SsangYong's unfolding strategy as a crossover and SUV specialist brand in the style of Jeep, Land Rover and Haval has been confirmed to just-auto.com by a company insider. The source has also revealed that a small SUV will be added to the range in 2017.
This additional model will use the same front- and all-wheel drive platform as the Tivoli. The thinking is that the firm's latest small crossover is intended to take on the Fiat 500X, with the additional model to look more like an SUV in the style of the Jeep Renegade.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The B-SUV will be available in all of the Korean's brand's existing markets and will look not dissimilar to the XAV, a concept which was revealed at the Seoul motor show in April. Production will be on the same line at the firm's Pyeongtaek plant in South Korea.
SsangYong's parent company M&M will also be adding additional models based on the same architecture as the Tivoli. These are codenamed S101 and S102. 'CUV100' is said to be under serious consideration as the production name for the first of these. The S102 is considered less of a priority for launch by the Indian brand, especially now with SsangYong having decided to restyle its equivalent vehicle – a long-wheelbase Tivoli. The Tivoli L was drawing close to production sign off in mid-2015 but reports indicate that it not do well in clinics, nor is there said to be an overwhelming business case for such a model.
The Korean company still plans to replace most of its ladder frame SUVs by decade end, and perhaps surprisingly, it intends to retain a separate chassis basis for these models. Moving over to a FWD/AWD monocoque platform for the vehicles which will replace the Kyron, Actyon, Actyon Sports and Rexton W was said to be considered but rejected. No doubt there will be multiple shared modules between these models and several future Mahindra SUVs and pick-ups.
