SsangYong News Round-Up

FLEET – December 11, 2008:

Driveaway 7-day insurance for new and used SsangYongs
One of the hassles having chosen to buy a new or used car, is having to arrange insurance cover so that it can be taxed and prepared for you to take delivery. Now SsangYong dealers are making the process much quicker and easier by offering buyers an instant seven days of comprehensive insurance – absolutely free.

Driveaway insurance cover is provided by Norwich Union and applies to new SsangYongs and SsangYong Approved vehicles. Once a customer has agreed to purchase, he or she simply rings a dedicated call centre to initiate immediate cover. There is no paperwork or additional administration for dealers to worry about, and a cover note is instantly emailed to the dealer so that road tax can be arranged. The customer can almost drive away the moment the deal is signed.

Customers benefit by having a week’s free comprehensive cover and they can normally take delivery of their new SsangYong much quicker. They just need to remember to continue the insurance or arrange their own cover a week later.

What Van? highly commends Kyron C-S
The SsangYong Kyron C-S light commercial has been ‘highly commended’ in this year’s What Van? Magazine Awards. The Kyron was just pipped in the 4x4 van category by the Mitsubishi Outlander.

The What Van? citation said: Although it operates in a niche market, Mitsubishi’s load shifter does not lack competitors. Despite its still relatively-unfamiliar name, one potentially strong challenger is SsangYong’s Kyron C-S 4x4. It’s well-put-together, well-equipped and offers more than sufficient performance plus a decent gearchange. Again it’s a five-door and features a 2.4m3 cargo box. Most importantly given the present economic situation, it’s remarkably good value for money. As a consequence we’re happy to hand it our Highly Commended prize.

SsangYong marketing director Nigel Unwin said: “We’re delighted that What Van? has recognised the Kyron C-S in this way, but feel duty bound to point out that the Kyron has a bigger load space and higher towing capacity. Oh, and it’s about £3,000 cheaper than the Outlander, and these days, that’s likely to be the deciding factor.”

KTM pulls with SsangYong
When it came to choosing a tow car for transporting its new X-Bow around the UK on a promotional tour, KTM had no hesitation in choosing a SsangYong Rexton.

Austrian KTM, more famous for its high performance range of innovative motorcycles, launched the X-Bow earlier this year as its first ‘car’. The X-Bow weighs in at just 790kg and with 240hp, powers from 0-60km/h in under four seconds. This month it will be driven in the the Race of Champions at Wembley by motorsport champions and legends including Michael Schumacher.

KTM’s Jeff Lau says that with the Rexton’s 3.2 tonne towing ability, he was barely aware that he was towing anything at all. Lau praised the Rexton’s tractable 2.7 turbo diesel engine and the way the SsangYong coped with the nose weight of the trailer. He added: “Particularly impressive were journeys on smaller side roads, when we had to get the KTM to more remote locations. The Rexton made it all very easy. There were absolutely no problems around town, on country roads, and on motorways.....you forgot there was even a vehicle on the back.”

More miles in a Rexton
How far can you go in a Rexton on a gallon of diesel? The official figures for a 270 SPR suggest urban consumption of 25.0mpg, extra-urban at 35.3mpg and a combined figure of 30.7mpg. But the recent ALD Automotive/Total Excellium MPG Mileage Marathon organised by Fleet World, showed just what’s possible with a little care and a lighter right foot.

Fleet World journalist Natalie Wallis and SsangYong PR man Simon Small – both economy driving virgins – completed the 411 mile route in a standard Rexton 270 SPR to record an overall figure of 38.8mpg. All entrants were measured against the official ‘combined’ figure for their vehicle, so the Rexton improved by 26.39 per cent. This was real world driving with time limits, so serious dawdling wasn’t possible. Out of 30 entrants ranging from the most frugal Yaris to a stonking Chevrolet Corvette, the Rexton achieved the 12th best improvement. And both drivers reckoned that with a little less overnight baggage and a lighter foot on the motorways, 40mpg might have been a realistic goal.

Healthy and safe – in parts
The health and safety police raided SsangYong’s Europe Parts Centre last month. Not to issue warnings about tripping over the door mat, but to present a trophy for the Safest Warehouse of the Netherlands 2008.

The SsangYong Europe Parts Centre is in Breda City in Holland, the largest logistics hub in Europe. The award was organised by a leading Dutch logistics certification organisation and magazine which had shortlisted nine companies as final candidates this year. The judges carried out a safety inspection and reviewed reports on the results of safety-related work and safe workplace recommendations with the SsangYong Centre receiving top scores from three safety inspection companies for its safety-related accident rate of zero per cent. Previous winners include DHL and Intel.

The SsangYong European Parts Centre was established in December 2006 and holds around 12,200 parts lines for distribution to 21 distributors in Europe.