After Ssangyong's creditor banks said they would look for ways to end China National Bluestar Group's status as the preferred bidder for the financially ailing Korean 4x4 manufacturer if it didn't clarify its final bid price, Bluestar itself has announced it is pulling out of the deal it outlined last week.

A spokeswoman for Bluestar, otherwise known as Lanxing Group, said in Beijing, “We abandoned our plan because the discrepancies between Ssangyong's creditors and us are unconquerable."

The unravelling of the sale process leaves supplies to Ssangyong's independent UK importer in the hands of Korean creditors pending a renewed bid process; Bluestar, a chemicals group without other automotive interests, was not the only bidder when Ssangyong was offered for sale late last year. Though the indicative price was not satisfactory to Ssangyong's banks, the failed deal would have represented the largest external industrial investment to date by a Chinese firm.