New cars: I don’t normally do them, except that it is good to drive 
some from time to time to see exactly what I’ve been missing. 


So I was rather invigorated after 
driving a whole bunch of Ssangyongs. All of them - the whole lot. I rather enjoyed it. Almost as much as I enjoyed talking to Paul Williams, who runs the company in the UK.

He’s not your normal car company boss. He’s not a car guy. Nor is he a bean counter. He’s a normal bloke. That means he’s fun to talk to and understands car buyers completely.

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Which brings me on to used cars. 
You see, Paul told me that some of the most successful Ssangyong dealers 
at the moment are solus ones.

That means they have a general used car 
lot with a new-car franchise attached. This gives a car salesman options. So instead of flogging a tired secondhand Land Rover Discovery, it isn’t that 
much of a mental stretch to get a car buyer to seriously consider a new Ssangyong Rexton with an unlimited-mileage, five-year warranty if he needs something to tow a caravan.

It is always important not to sell two cars side by side and make one of them look stupid - putting left-hand-drive models together with right-hookers, for example. Used cars, though, have a purpose. They represent value compared with a new car, except that Ssangyong is already a value brand. So there is a double positive right there, and that explains why they are doing rather well at the moment.

So I have to put myself in the position of a used car buyer who wants, say, a Land Rover Freelander but will make 
do with a Ssangyong Tivoli. That’s because the Tivoli looks good, goes 
well, tows plenty and starts at just £12,750 on the road.

Go to a used car dealer with £13k and you’ll get a 2011 Freelander 2. Be careful that it isn’t a two-wheel-drive model and you will 
get a 2.2 TD4 GS with around 70,000 miles on the clock. Hopefully, the 
dealer will stick a warranty on that, but it may only be a three-month bare-minimum job. So unless serious off-roading ability is needed, the reasonable residuals and peace of 
mind offered by a new Ssangyong 
make an overwhelming new-car case.

Value brands are where it’s at in the retail marketplace, be it a Dacia, a Great Wall or a Ssangyong. So am I going to buy a brand-new car? No. Would I recommend one to a relative, friend or reader? Yes, of course. If the circumstances are appropriate, it is hard to argue against the value brands. New cars are okay.