GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: SsangYong shows off new EV

Comeback Korean car-maker SsangYong has shown off its latest concept at the Geneva motor show just months ahead of its return to the Australian market.

The e-SIV is a C-segment electric SUV concept that shows off SsangYong’s mobility technology development, including autonomous capability, and a new design language dubbed ‘New horizon, smart dynamism’.

Robust looking on the outside, the e-SIV’s four-seat interior is designed to reflect the technical orientation of the car, with such features as a large information display and a new ergonomically designed gear-shifter.

SsangYong also showed off its new Musso pick-up, a ladder-frame dual-cab pick-up based on the Rexton large SUV first revealed in Korea in January as the Rexton Sports.

But don’t expect the e-SIV or Musso to be the first models relaunched by SsangYong in Australia via a wholly national sales company it is currently establishing in Sydney’s west, after breaking ties with previous Australian importer Ateco Automotive in 2017.

Instead SsangYong’s export chief Daniel Rim said the launch models would be the Tivoli and XLV SUVs, which have never been sold in Australia.

“We are planning to bring a while family of vehicles starting from late this year,” Rim confirmed. “We will start in Sydney and Brisbane and then we will expand.”

Rim forecast the dealer network would reach about 40, which was the number when Ateco was handling the brand.

The 4560mm long, 1870mm wide C-segment sized e-SIV is being touted as the preview of the replacement for the Korando due in 2019, and Rim told motoring.com.au there were similarities.

“e-SIV shares its platform with next Korando and there is some similarities in the looks,” he confirmed.

The new Korando platform is one of three SsangYong is co-developing with its parent company Mahindra, which will produce its own all-new small SUV by 2020.

Rim confirmed the Musso pick-up would also come to Australia and that he was confident it would be popular here -- especially a longer 5.4m version which has yet to be shown.

“I think it should go well in Australia with its tow capacity of three tonnes and higher ground clearance,” he predicted. “We are looking forward to re-establishing in Australia and think we will do well this time.

The e-SIV, which stands for Electric Smart Vehicle Interface, offers Level 2 autonomous capability, although it can also be fitted with an additional sensor to achieve Level 3.

Its 61.5kWh battery can reach an 80 per cent charge in 50 minutes, the electric motor pumps out 140kW, the range is 450km and the top speed is 150km/h.

The e-SIV’s battery can be charged remotely through a smartphone app, which also predicts the vehicle driving range and recommends the optimal driving route to extend battery charge.

Telematics allow a number of functions to be remotely controlled, such as turning power and air-conditioning on and off, car diagnostics, vehicle management and even driver safety support.

The infotainment system also tailors its behaviour through machine learning and cloud-based speech recognition.