5:30 pm, July 26, 2011
SSANGYONG Motor UK’s boss has declared the new Korando is a critical car but it’s not a make-or-break one.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, director and CEO of the newly created SsangYong Motor UK, Paul Williams, said that while the new SUV is an important car in entering a new sector for the brand, it is not a make-or-break car.
‘It’s not make-or-break for two reasons,’ explains Williams.
‘Firstly, we have got other stuff lined up in the future. Secondly, if you were to check the financial side of the company behind SsangYong Motor UK, you would find it is an extremely profitible organisation and the brand is a substantial addition to our current portfolio. If the brand takes a long time to build, it is not an issue.’
The Korando is critical but not make-or-break
Last week it was announced that the new business had been created from the purchase of shares in Koelliker UK – the current UK importer – and the Korando is spearheading the brand’s return to the UK market.
Styled by Giugiaro and with prices expected to start below £17k, the Korando will put SsangYong into the highly competitive cross-over market.
The new car joins the Rexton and Rodius in the UK model range, but having old models in the line-up is not a problem believes Williams.
‘I do not mind and the dealers don’t mind having relatively old models in the range because they are great value for money and they sell – and that is what the dealers are here for, to sell and to make money,’ says Williams. ‘The Rodius, for example, is a seven-seat car for Ford Fiesta money.’
But Williams does admit that Rodius and Rexton will not be the new face of the company – that role is very much reserved for the new Korando.
‘The Korando ahs been styled by Guigaro and it is very much the future for the brand. When you see the styling of our new cars, they won’t have the eccentricities models of old had.
‘I have seen a lot of the styling executions for the future,’ adds Williams, ‘and it is fair to say that the Korando is representative of where we are going in terms of style.’
