The 2015 Ssangyong Tivoli has been revealed in Seoul, South Korea becoming the first new model to be launched after the company merged with Mahindra.
THE TIVOLI SUV, says Ssangyong, is the result of 42 months of planning and development and follows on from the X100 concept. Taking its styling lead from the Korando, easily the brand’s most attractive vehicle, the Tivoli is a further development of the XIV Air and Adventure concepts recently seen at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
According to Ssangyong, the Tivoli “features a dynamic, urban look with a contemporary silhouette, and embodies the rhythmical motion of SsangYong’s design language, ‘Nature-born 3 Motion’ – Rhythmical, Dynamic and Dignified”. And, if we’re honest, it’s kind of hard to argue with the Korean car maker; the Tivoli is easily its best-looking car ever.
With hints of Range Rover Evoque when viewed in profile, the Tivoli gets a slimline grille and wraparound headlights (which Ssangyong says, er, were inspired by a bird’s wings in flight) with integrated LED daytime running lights to give the thing real presence from the front. Buyers will be able to choose from 16, 17, or 18-inch alloys. Other styling elements include, carbon-look exterior door mirrors, alloy pedals, and LED illuminated door kick-plates.
Based on Korean specification, the Tivoli comes well equipped with dual-zone climate control (with memory function), seven airbags, front and rear parking sensors, Bluetooth connectivity and audio streaming, reversing camera and seven-inch touchscreen infotainment unit, interior lighting that can be adjusted from red, through to blue, black or white. The boot will hold 423 litres with the rear seats in place; the second-row seats fold completely flat.
Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine making 93kW and 157Nm of torque, this is mated to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic with a claimed combined fuel consumption of 8.3L/100km for the automatic-equipped model. This is quite high for a brand-new engine when compared with, say, Subaru’s XV which makes more power and torque from its larger capacity engine and gets better fuel consumption (7.2L/100km).
Similar to Hyundai’s FlexSteer system, the Tivoli’s Smart Steer (electronic power assist) offers three different steering modes – Normal, Comfort and Sport. At the front, the Tivoli rides on McPherson struts and springs while at the rear it gets a torsion beam set-up. Thanks to a double-skin insulated bulkhead between the engine bay and the cabin engine noise should be kept to a minimum.
The Ssangyong Tivoli is expected to go on-sale in Australia later this year with specific details and pricing revealed closer to the local launch. Ssangyong is hoping to sell 100,000 units annually and sales begin in its native South Korea this month.
