The Ssangyong Ssangyong Tivoli crossover, launched last year, was the first Ssangyong built under Mahindra ownership.
But more important than the Indian conglomerate’s bankrolling of the project was the nature of the car.
Following on from the Ssangyong Ssangyong Korando, the Tivoli was further confirmation that South Korea’s third-largest car maker could move from producing redundant, ugly SUVs that no one wanted to the kind of affordable, easy-on-the-eye soft-roaders that everyone does.
By Ssangyong’s measure, the Tivoli has been a roaring success – enough to convince the firm that the original pumped-up supermini concept can be inflated even further. Consequently, we now have this: the Ssangyong Tivoli XLV.
Previewed by the seven-seat XLV-Air concept in Frankfurt last year (sadly, the two jump seats have gone), the ‘eXciting Lifestyle Vehicle’ is a larger version of the Tivoli and, according to its maker, the first of a new class: the SUV-estate.
That aside, the XLV’s advantages are obvious: having gently muscled in on territory occupied by household names such as the Nissan Juke, Ssangyong now wants (with minimum investment) to take on larger rivals such as the Skoda Yeti (2013-2017) by enhancing the Tivoli’s practicality.
