Seoul - Ailing South Korean automaker SsangYong Motor Co is to receive 45 million dollars from its Chinese top shareholder Shanghai Automotive Industry (SAIC) Motor Corp, the company said Monday.

The measure showed SAIC's determination to keep the SUV maker going, SsangYong said. Also the company received an order for 2,000 cars and minivans from SAIC.

SAIC holds a 51-per-cent stake in cash-strapped SsangYong, which had been hit hard as car sales dropped at home and abroad. In 2008, sales of the smallest of South Korea's five automakers dropped by 29.9 per cent to 92,665 units.

The Korea Development Bank, a main creditor of SsangYong, had made SAIC's help a prerequisite for its aid to bail out the company.

Labour unions called on their 5,200 members working at SsangYong to strike over fears that SAIC will lay off workers within the restructuring measures. According to South Korean media reports, up to 3,000 jobs are endangered.

SsangYong re-started production Monday after a more than two-week break. (dpa)