A new Korean car brand coming to North America
With the massive success that brands such as Kia and Hyundai have seen in North America over the last several years, it should come as no surprise that there will soon be another Korean car brand making its way across the pond.
Ssangyong Motors, one of Korea’s smallest car brands, is currently working on plans to enter the North American market within the next two years, although you should expect to hear of them under another name. The company has recently filed to trademark the names “Luvent” and “Tivoli” with the US Patent Office.
The company have already released the Tivoli overseas—a small, compact SUV, much along the lines of the Honda HR-V.
Over the years, Ssangyong’s owners have included Korea’s Daewoo Group, the Chinese auto conglomerate SAIC Motor Corp, and now Indian truck maker Mahindra & Mahindra. Mahindra has tried in the past to launch a small pickup truck in the US market, which fell flat.
The Tivoli launched this month in South Korea, with a price tag of $15,000. The car as a six-speed manual or automatic transmission; and the option for either a base two-wheel drive model with a 125 horsepower, 1.6 liter gasoline engine, or an all-wheel drive model with a 1.6 liter diesel variant.
The version available in Korea will offer standard safety features such as seven air bags, electronic stability control, brake assist, hill start assist and seat-belt pre-tensioners. An additional feature is the automatic illumination of the emergency flashers in the car’s rear tail lamp cluster when emergency brake force is applied. Just under half (40 per cent) of the car’s body will be made of advanced high-strength steel.
In the past, automaker Ssangyong has targeted auto markets in Central America, Eastern Europe, Africa, China and India. However, according to a source within the company, the Tivoli was designed with US crash and emissions certificates in mind.
The company is no stranger to US markets, having previously had technology sharing deals with Mercedes-Benz. Competing with larger Korean automakers such as Hyundai and Kia has, however, proved a challenge.
This is not the first time that Ssangyong has attempted to bring their products to a North American audience. Over the past 20 years, the company has filed for patents on the names of several of their cars, including the Rexton, Korando, Chairman, Actyon, and Musso; however, none of those cars ever ended up being sold in North America.
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