South Korea's Ssangyong is coming to the U.S. with two crossovers

By Ronan Glon Published October 11, 2016

South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor Company has detailed how it plans to follow the path blazed by rivals Hyundai and Kia and gain a steady foothold in the United States.

Ssangyong is owned by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, the same company that recently purchased Pininfarina, and it specializes in building crossovers and SUVs. The brand’s U.S. offensive will begin with the Tivoli, a small soft-roader that debuted last year during the Geneva Auto Show. The Tivoli (pictured) — a name borrowed from a picturesque town in central Italy — will compete in the same segment as the Mazda CX-3 and the Honda HR-V.

Recommended Videos

The second Ssangyong model to make the trip across the Pacific will be the Korando. The current model has been on sale since 2010 so we’re unlikely to see it in the United States, but we’ll get a new and improved version of the crossover. The Korando — a contraction of Korea-can-do — will take on the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Kia Sportage, though it’s too early to tell whether it will land as a five-seater, as a seven-seater, or both.

Ssangyong is developing two gasoline-burning engines specifically for the United States market. The first is a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder unit that makes 162 horsepower; the second is a 2.0-liter turbo four rated at 220 horses. The company isn’t out to compete with Mercedes-AMG and BMW M, so don’t expect to see a super-crossover with large alloys, spoilers, and twin turbos any time soon.

Daewoo, Daihatsu, Suzuki, Renault, Peugeot, and Rover are among the numerous foreign companies that have tried to establish themselves in the United States and failed. Ssangyong knows that becoming a credible player in the American auto industry is easier said than done, especially for a brand without an image or a reputation, but executives believe they have what it takes.

“America is very, very competitive, so we need to build a good brand. That’s why we’re now preparing completely new products,” explained company CEO Choi Johng-Sik in an interview with Automotive News.

Ssangyong hopes to sell its first car in the United States by the year 2020.

Former Contributor

Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

Topics

Cars

Order an Uber and a self-driving Mustang might show up

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Ordering an Uber in London could come with a surprise today. Instead of a conventional car and driver pulling up, you might find a Ford Mustang Mach-E that can drive itself. Uber has launched London's first public robotaxi service in partnership with British autonomous driving company Wayve. The service is available through the Uber app, meaning you don't need to download anything new or book a special type of ride to try it.

There is one important caveat. Although the cars will handle the driving themselves, a trained safety operator will initially sit behind the wheel, ready to intervene if necessary. Fully driverless rides are planned for a later stage. The launch fleet consists of electric Mustang Mach-Es equipped with cameras, radar, and Wayve's AI Driver technology. These systems give the vehicle a 360-degree view of what's happening around it. And if anywhere can put that technology through its paces, London seems like a pretty good candidate.

Cars

Range Rover Electric arrives with 543hp, 600km range, and a starting price of the moon

The electric Range Rover is here, and your wallet may need CPR

Range Rover EV

The Range Rover has never been shy about luxury, size or price, and its first fully electric version is carrying that tradition into the EV era. Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) first battery-electric Range Rover is now open for orders, starting at £154,070, or about $208,420. That makes it one of the most expensive electric SUVs on the market.

The electric model costs almost £50,000 more than the standard combustion-engine Range Rover. It is priced in the same territory as the electric Mercedes-Benz G 580 and not far from ultra-luxury gasoline SUVs such as the Bentley Bentayga.

Cars

A solar ambulance has successfully tackled 500 miles of difficult terrain

Stella Juva

For years, solar-powered vehicles have largely lived in the world of prototypes, university projects and ambitious demonstrations. Now, one has completed the kind of test that matters far more than a flashy concept reveal: it drove hundreds of miles through difficult terrain while carrying medical equipment and generating enough electricity to operate independently.

Called Stella Juva, the vehicle was developed by Solar Team Eindhoven, a group of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology and two other educational institutions. According to a CNN report, the team describes it as the world's first solar ambulance. Unlike a conventional ambulance, however, Stella Juva is designed less to rush patients to hospitals and more to bring medical care to people who cannot easily reach it.