2009 SsangYong C200 Aero and Eco

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By George Skentzos | April 03rd, 2009

The SsangYong brand has never exactly been synonymous with elegant design, however its latest model does show promise with the unveiling of two new C200 variants at the Seoul Motor Show.

The SsangYong C200 Aero and C200 Eco promise significantly improved fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions, with production scheduled for later this year and should reach the market in less than 12 months.

Dubbed a compact urban vehicle (CUV), the C200 Eco uses diesel hybrid power while the Aero version has a choice of a high torque 2.0-litre diesel or turbocharged 1.8-litre petrol engines.

Unfortunately it seems old habits die hard, with the interior design hardly inspiring confidence, although a more sedate colour scheme may help with its appeal.

SsangYong expects class-leading fuel economy from both variants, with CO2 emissions reduced by as much as 50 per cent in the Eco.

Both variants feature a six-speed auto transmission in their motor show-guise, but manual versions will also be available at launch.

The new C200 has a wheelbase of 2.65m with an overall length of 4.4m, making it smaller and lighter than current SsangYong models.

Alex

That’s a nice looking car. I still wouldn’t buy one but it’s much better than SsangYongs other more “distinctive looks”. It looks a little bit too high and narrow but I think that’s just the body kit. Reminds me of the Captiva.
RoFlmaTiC

First 2 pics look great, but then I scrolled down to the third.

Ouch!
http://caradvice.com.au Jack Fast

Can anyone tell me who styled this thing? It must be an in-house job.
Captain Mainwaring

Needed to be smaller and lighter than current Ssangyong models, but looks like a giant Corolla on stilts. Why would you bother?
sammo

I reckon it’s a cross between Holden Captiva and Kia Sorento – both Koreans. The exterior looks good for a SsangYong, but what a horrid interior – every inch of it shouts “Made In Korea”. Lets hope this car will change the brand’s “cheap ‘n’ ungly” image.
Alex

Captain Mainwaring said “Why would you bother?”. Unfortunately, that is what always gets me with SsangYong. They aren’t really cheaper than any of the competition and in some cases, they are more expensive. There is no point to them. No quality, price, space or prestige advantage. I just wouldn’t care if they went bankrupt.
Proton is the only other brand that I think like that with but at least they have Lotus ownership so there is a point to them if only to keep another good brand alive.
Dan

The front kind of looks like Audi Q7 copy, to an extent. But that’s alright, nothig original has come out of Korea yet…
http://integra axel

Who sprayed the green bile over the dash
mike

how small are the wing mirrors?
you might as well not have them
http://pirelli topdog

I thought i was looking at a audi till i seen the name from front you can see its clearly a audi rip off
http://. Naughtyius Maximus

Top effort me thinks….whats with blocked off air intakes on front grill and lower air intake as seems to be plastic everywhere! Maybe production model will have meshed out areas here for air assistance with cooling engine and improve looks.
Reckless1

Haha, definitely an Audi exterior ripoff – but looks like they gave the interior to a 14 year old student.

Why didn’t they rip off the Audi interior too??????
Myke

Definitely looks better then most Ssangyong, but yes as Captain said it looks like a ‘rolla on stilts…
Mechanic

Ssangyong has had a tough time during the past five years. Their styling has been very polarising and somewhat ugly in my point of view. It will be interesting to see if Ssangyong will be able to break out of its budget image like Hyundai and bring out some quality cars.
http://www.xplorar.com.br Jose

Nice design, and we will see very impressive progress in SSANGYONG in next generation car’s? Let’s hope so.
RALLYX, definitively, it’s not a KIA.
http://dunno frenchaffair

I agree with the Captain – those doors could have been pulled directly off the previous corolla – glazing included.

At least they are trying, but I think need a sales pitch.
Toyota have reliability (so they’re marketing says), Volvo have safety etc etc, what do S.Yong have? (well, they have the worlds ugliest people mover that’s for sure – lol).
Yanzo

wow, it actually looks good. but the interior, ugh. wtf. looks so mean from the front, pop a front bumperon there and it’ll look even meaner.
Flow

“The SsangYong brand has never exactly been synonymous with elegant design”

That’s no understatement.
You also missed “The SsangYong brand has never exactly been synonymous with…”:
- Quality
- Safety
- [insert _any_ reason why you buy a car here]
Andy

Wow, never has a bankruptcy done a company as much good as Ssangyong.
Kovy

At first I thought it was an Audi with all the little details scooped off.
technofreak

Gawd! its scarey that people actually think this looks good!….or worse…they would buy something like this.
Ryan

Wow looks quite good, hopefully they’ll be able to turn themselves around like Hyundai has.
nomis

It is now a Chinese company.
http://skyline The Salesman

It does look very Audi’ish. I wouldn’t want to have a hang over and have to drive a car with that trim. Ssangyong is not yet bankrupt; it has a court ordered protection against its creditors. Didn’t they have a concept sedan that looked quite good not so long ago? Maybe they have turned a corner.
Jimmy

Agreed, massive Q5/Q7 rip off. Quite embarrassing really…
Hammer

Dont know what all the winging is about. the current stuff might be a bit on the average in style, but at least they dont look like everything else on the market. Everyone I know that has one loves their Ssangyong and reckons there bloody reliable and good value for money. “looks like a corrola, looks like a Audi” make your mind up. Most modern cars look alike, I reackon good on you Ssangyong.
Fred

Why does everyone blather on about one ugly SsangYong model (the Stavic) when the rest of the range looks OK (and there’s nothing at all wrong with the Rexton, which is a close cousin to the M-Class Merc which wasn’t bagged for its looks). OK, the ute has a weird nose, which must be cute because Peugeot copied it.

As for the C200, I reckon it looks great and I’d consider buying one (to replace my current Rexton). The interior? won’t make it to production. It’s a show car, remember? How many show car interiors make it to the production model? Even if it were the production interior it beats the boring universal black that most manufacturers spend about 3 milliseconds on in the interior styling phase. For what it’s worth, Asians tend to like funky interiors and designs lke this are reasonably common on some low volume Japanese designs.

For those wondering about the styling, it apparently came from the Giugaro (ItalDesign) studio in Italy. Seems they’ve dropped the Pommie who designed the hideous Stavic. So what if it resembles an Audi- at least it doesn’t resemble a fridge on wheels like many of Toyota’s recent efforts.
Russell

I would consider buying one of these to replace my Kyron. I’m going to buy another Ssangyong anyway and they look like a great car to me. I would have to drive one first though.