Ssangyong says has no plan to enter U.S. for now

SEOUL, March 19 (Reuters) - South Korean auto maker Ssangyong Motor Co (003620.KS) on Wednesday said it had no current plan to enter the United States, denying remarks from a source who told Reuters it was planning exports to the country as early as 2010.

"Considering market conditions, Ssangyong is not planning an entry into the U.S, for any of its models. Ssangyong's focus is on China and Western Europe," the company said in a statement.

Ssangyong, in which China's SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS) holds a 51-percent stake, is the fifth-largest automaker in South Korea, behind Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), Kia Motors (000270.KS), and local units of General Motors GM.N and Renault (RENA.PA).

A U.S. plan, if realised, would make Ssangyong the first Chinese-controlled automaker to attempt to crack the world's largest auto market and comes at a time when the U.S. auto industry is staggering under excess capacity and mounting losses.

Ssangyong's entry would also be a stepping stone for SAIC to eventually ship its own made-in-China vehicles to the United States, said the source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the company's plans.

Ssangyong, which makes sport utility vehicles such as the Rexton and Kyron as well as premium sedans such as the Chairman model, sold more than 136,500 cars in 2007, nearly half of them abroad.

The source earlier told Reuters that Ssangyong had brought a few Chairman sedans into the United States and had been amending the model to meet U.S. environmental and safety guidelines.

Initial tests will be completed by the end of the month, and the company is aiming for a 2010 launch, the person said.

"Ssangyong has never sent any Chairman sedans to the United States for purposes of environmental or safety certification, we are too busy meeting South Korean demand," a company spokesman said in Seoul.

A SAIC spokesman was not immediately available. The Chinese automaker has said in the past that its current focus remains on China's fast-growing domestic vehicle market.

SAIC is a partner with General Motors Corp GM.N in Shanghai General Motors Corp, a joint-venture established in 1997 to sell GM-branded vehicles in China.

Shares in Ssangyong ended up 0.11 percent to 4,735 won, underperforming a 2.11 percent rise in South Korea's main stock market .

Founded in 1954, Ssangyong started its auto business by building jeeps for the U.S. military stationed in the country after the Korean War.

(Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo, editing by Marie-France Han and Keiron Henderson)