SsangYong give details on all-new eco baby SUV

2015-01-15 17:57:48

The Chief Executive of SsangYong Motor Company, Yoo Il Lee, has announced that the company’s new B-segment crossover will be called the Tivoli. Alongside the name, the company has provided its latest rendered pictures detailing both the outside and, for the first time, the interior.

The still-relatively obscure Korean company made quite an impact when it unveiled a pair of small SUV concept cars at the Paris Motor Show which were dubbed the XIV-Air and XIV-Adventure. At the time of the unveil, SsangYong said that both the models represented the new model and would bring a sense of off-road ruggedness to the city-friendly compact SUV segment. Prior to that, it had been unveiled in an earlier concept guise, named the X100.

The official images accompanying this story show that the showroom-ready car has stayed broadly true to the design concepts. The Tivoli features skid plates, a raised ride-height and protective cladding on its rear-end.

The Tivoli has taken its name from an Italian town not too far from Rome, famed for its reputation for style and is said to perfectly capture both the design and product quality that the new car has been subjected to.

SsangYong say that the Tivoli has also been the focus of extensive analytical market research to help the company create a car which the company hopes will set the trend in the compact SUV market.

The Tivoli has been under development for three years and will be formally launched in its home-market in January followed by a global roll-out during the second quarter of 2015.

It’s primary aim will be at the Vauxhall Mokka, Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008 – but it will be secretly gunning for the current star of the segment, the Nissan Juke. The Tivoli it is likely to be competitive in terms of pricing, perhaps starting from around £13,000. But UK-specced models are almost certainly going to be well-specified, with plenty of standard equipment, including Bluetooth connectivity and audio and rear-view camera.

Two engines will be available from launch, both 1.6-litre units in petrol and diesel formats. Both will also be paired to a 6-speed manual gearbox, or a 6-speed auto. The UK are also likely to get the option of both two- and four-wheel drive varieties, pleasing those who will want to take it out of the urban jungle from time-to-time and into something a little more rugged and primitive.

The company will not be providing any performance, specification or pricing information until much closer to the release date.

As an interesting aside, SsangYong has indicated that it is considering changing its brand name in the UK and Europe to help it improve its traction. We will keep you posted of developments on this front.

This article was prepared by our car news team First4Auto

Reported by

Andrew Merritt-Morling

Chief Editor