[SDP]

The main offering - Rexton - kind of disappointed. Looks dated at least from the outside. The interior are good though.

Loved the concept vehicles. Not sure why the XIV reminded me of the Maruti-Suzuki XA Alpha concept.

The Actyon Sports truck is beautiful. Unfortunately, the Indian market has not 'discovered' trucks yet.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by amrisharm

Absolutely brilliant Job with the Actyon pickup. The last time I saw this product was in Australia in 2007 and it looked something like this:

Now though the body shell is the exact same they have turned into this, what a brilliant transformation!

And all this while retaining much of the side profile, albeit the few changes here and there.

Having said that, the front end of the pick-up doesn't seem to gel well with the rear. I mean, when you look at the front of the pick-up, you would expect it to have a more radical rear too. But it's a bit of a dampener.

Oh, and that front looks very Caddy and very 'Holden' for some reason. Is it because the Actyon pick-up is mainly meant for the Australian market?

Originally Posted by Y@SH

All this and no Korando C ? Isint that going to be a bigger product than the Rexton?! The Korando C is a great looking compact SUV which I and many of us would like to see on the Indian roads.

Could it be that the Korando C would come in the way of the XUV-5OO and that's why they avoided showcasing it. Is it even on the cards? I'm not following Ssanyong's plans in India all that much.

[himavanth_m]

Is SsangYong going to come to India as a separate brand? Or will these vehicles be branded as Mahindra Rexton and so on?

Originally Posted by SDP

Loved the concept vehicles. Not sure why the XIV reminded me of the Maruti-Suzuki XA Alpha concept.

Even I got confused looking at the rear of both these vehicles. I was about to post a message to one of the moderators to report that the Suzuki XA Alpha pics are placed in the Sangyong thread.
Luckily, I saw it a bit more closely and realized both are different vehicles.

[HammerHead]

New Actyon Sports looks great
Earlier one was hideous!

SsangYong XIV-1 Concept (eXciting user Interface Vehicle)
Is this what it is? Looks boring to me.

Note: Pic from netcarshow.com

[mahen_narang]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Kumho tyres are a Korean Brand. Often come with Korean cars as OEM tyres.
They are probably just as good as our JK, Apollo etc if not better, from all accounts.

Had spotted an i10 with these set of tyres recently at the Hyundai service center. The car was newly bought as could make out from the registration number.

[theMAG]

I see that this Korean company still needs to bridge the gap to a fluidic design. Cant say I'm impressed with their products; that steering wheel in the Rexton is amongst the most wannabe steerings I must have ever seen.

[avishar]

So the only car we can expect from Ssangyong is the Rexton?And this is going to be sold through Mahindra dealerships also or will they set up individual SsangYong dealerships?

Mahindra brand is not strong enough for the premium end,and SsangYong brand is completely unknown,i wonder what will their strategy be.And all CBU's?

[amitg79]

The Rexton is such an ordinary looking vehicle. One look at the front and you feel like asking "Why the long face?"

The XIV concept looks interesting. The Korando E looks like Cobra Commander.

[smsrini]

The XUV 500 tailgate is a direct copy from the rexton to give it the 'family look' with a bit of a garnish with the 'arc'...

[octane_100]

All magazines had almost confirmed the launch of Korando. Its conspicuous absence in the auto show might hint at two things: a) they have shelved that project b) An imminent launch is very near and Mahindra did not want the Korando to get lost in the hype and hoopla of expo (like they Mini Xylo).

I sincerely hope it is the latter, since it comes across as a very honest effort from its manufacturer and if matched by sensible pricing, would be a good product to bridge the gap between the XUVs and the Fortuners.

[raj_5004]

Specs of the Rexton is nice but I was waiting to see the Korando.

The XIV & Actyon looks killer!

[shankar.balan]

Hope they price these cars sensibly and dont do another Renault Koleos on us!

Neither Ssangyong nor Mahindra really cut it (at least as of now), to the "Premium" segment position.

The premium positioning cannot be achieved merely by way of pricing - thats what all these chaps would do well to learn.

The XUV and Korando should ideally be sitting around within a lakh of each other, for similar variants and depending on what bells and whistles each of them offer.

The Rexton should be positioned close to the Skoda Yeti/ Fortuner, to be realistic - again, depending on the variant and what bells and whistles it offers.

Mahindra would be very ill advised to try and position the Korando significantly above the XUV and the Rexton significantly above the Korando. I state this because Ssangyong does NOT command that kind of premium anywhere else in the world.

These various brands may be owned by the same Mother Entity, but they need to carve a niche for themselves in whichever segment they operate in - even if they are going to fight head to head. This sort of thinking is what will benefit the consumer and ultimately gain the company the requisite market-share. This is almost exactly whats happening with the Renault Pulse and Nissan Micra and Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid - similar products, similar offerings, different brands, comparable yet marginally different pricing resulting in greater width of choice to consumers.

While each brand is an SBU, ultimately as a combo - the same mother company ends up getting a lot of marketshare by edging away their rivals!

Originally Posted by avishar

So the only car we can expect from Ssangyong is the Rexton?And this is going to be sold through Mahindra dealerships also or will they set up individual SsangYong dealerships?

Mahindra brand is not strong enough for the premium end,and SsangYong brand is completely unknown,i wonder what will their strategy be.And all CBU's?

[neil.jericho]

When sold in India will these be badged under the Mahindra name or SsangYong ? The Rexton looks 'sad' but those interiors look sweet. I like the bold design direction that SsangYong is taking. A few years ago listing their products meant a catalogue of ugly, unpretty and what were they thinking.

[pamiboy]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

Marriages are indeed made in heaven. Ram banaye jodi.

Design / Styling sense wise mahindra and ssangyong are just made for each other.
I shudder to think what a JOINT EFFORT automobile made by a collaborative team from both these companies would look like.
the pickup looks good.

I think they should remove the front end of Rexton and attach the Actyon front end to Rexton. Then may be it'll look okay. Also the dash and steering wheel of Rexton are atrocious and don't belong in a premium vehicle. I believe Mahindra has learned some lessons in vehicle design. Hopefully they don't mess up their hard earned reputation with bungled up korean products. I like Korrando though.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Attachment 867981
Actyon Sports

very nice styling, though the front (bonnet) reminds me of the Cruze. Really liked the attention to detail in the styling (see highlighted section for example):