I mentioned in the last post that I was meeting the new team behind South Korean brand SsangYong. Three years ago it went into administration globally, but has been rescued by Mahindra & Mahindra, a massive Indian conglomerate that builds cheap and cheerful SUVs for its home market. SsangYong gives it something more upmarket for those customers, and allow it to exploit the no-frills SUV sector in Western Europe, particularly for people who need to tow. The problem is the product. Take the all-new Korando (pictured); it looks okay from a distance, but it lacks the refinement of pretty much everything else in the sector. It’s a world away from best-selling Nissan Qashqai, and even rival products from South Korea, the Kia Sportage and Hyundai ix35, are a class apart from the Korando. To be fair to the SsangYong UK top brass, they’re reaslistic about the car’s shortcomings and accept they’re only ever going to be a niche player. The ‘at least 10 per cent cheaper than our rivals’ tag will get customers through the door, but I’m afraid you get what you pay for.
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