New Ssangyong Korando C – FrontView
Ssangyong Motor, part of the Mahindra Group, announced on Oct. 3, 2013 that it started selling the New Korando C in the global market with its launch in Europe, the home of automotive, following China launch.
The launch event of the New Korando C was held in Wiesbaden, Germany, which is a key region of European market. About 140 people including journalists and distributors attended the event and had chances to test drive brand-new vehicle.
At the event, around 30 distributors along with some 100 journalists from 19 countries including non-European countries such as Russia and Turkey as well as France, UK, Italy, Spain, and Germany expressed a great interest in the New Korando C.
In particular, Ssangyong plans to establish a solid foothold in major key markets with the launch event in Europe following China and to put the New Korando C on sale through 1,300 global distributors this fall.
Most of all, journalists said after test driving that the New Korando C will create a new sensation in a compact SUV market as Ssangyong changed the style of the vehicle and upgraded interior quality reflecting various needs from the global market.
New Ssangyong Korando C – DashView
Ssangyong has sold 130,000 vehicles of Korando C, launched in 2010 for the global market, and its annual sales volume is expected to go up to 80,000 units when global sales of the New Korando C start in earnest.
In Europe, the New Korando C gasoline model will be sold along with diesel model which is already on sale in Korea. The diesel model is equipped with strong e-XDi200 engine (175ps, A/T) or e-XDi200 LOW CO2 engine (149ps, M/T) of which has better efficiency and NVH. Gasoline model features e-XGi 2.0 engine with max power of 149ps.
Furthermore, the European market centers around manual transmission equipped models as 60 % of customers choose them, and New Korando C is considered competitive in terms of efficiency in the European market as its manual transmission model has fuel efficiency of 17.2km/? (combined fuel economy).
New Ssangyong Korando C – RearView
Various specifications for convenience such as ventilated driver’s seat that enables pleasant driving and smart key system which is highly preferred by customers were adopted. Specifications that meet European regulations such as DRL(Daytime Running Light) and TPMS(Tire Pressure Monitoring System) were also added.
Ssangyong Motor said that SUV market is showing a high growth rate although the European auto market is contracting, and that the New Korando C will play a bigger role as Ssangyong’s global strategic vehicle in a compact SUV market that is recording annual growth rate of over 12%.
CEO Lee Yoo-il said that, “The New Korando C has been reborn having actively adopted global market needs. I expect that it will establish itself as a flagship model of Ssangyong in Europe as well,” and added that “We will make efforts to strengthen Ssangyong Motor brand status while focus on increasing global SUV market share by introducing the New Korando C to customers through global sales network including European network.”
Also see – All-new 2014 SsangYong Korando C officially unveiled in South Korea
See more pictures of New Ssangyong Korando C –
