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Ssangyong Australia crying out for Musso accessories

The aftermarket industry is a lucrative one, and Ssangyong is keen to cash in. The only problem? Australian Design Rules.


Ssangyong is pushing hard to get its range of Musso accessories ready for the Australian market, as it looks to equip dealers with a range of add-ons for dual-cab ute buyers.

According to figures quoted by Toyota at the launch of the HiLux Rogue and Rugged, the average dual-cab owners spends somewhere in the vicinity of $2000 on aftermarket accessories almost immediately after purchase.

Clearly there's an opportunity there for Ssangyong to give its dealers some profitable add-ons for the Musso, and give customers gear to help them stand out from the crowd.

The company is aware of that opportunity, with Australian communications boss Andrew Ellis confirming a range of accessories are in the works.

"If I could have them tomorrow, I'd sell them tomorrow," he said. Unfortunately, making gear like bull bars compliant with Australian Design Rules (ADRs) is a laborious process, and Ssangyong is starting from scratch.

There's also the fact the Musso comes standard with things like parking sensors and autonomous emergency braking, both of which make it harder to develop functioning accessories. The new Triton's factory bull bar tapers around the bonnet to give the AEB camera a clear view of the road ahead, for example.

Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch an AEB-compatible bull bar by the end of 2019, while Ford hasn't announced any accessories for its AEB-enabled Ranger.

Things aren't nearly as simple as they used to be, then. One long-serving rural Australian dealer said (tongue in cheek) you "used to throw on the garden gate and away you go, but you can't do that anymore. It takes time".

The range of accessories has started to develop Down Under, but Ssangyong is nowhere near having a full catalogue... yet.

"We've started with a tow bar. That was the first one we did. We've done a soft tonneau, a hard tonneau is now days [away]," Andrew Ellis elaborated.

Roller tray covers, sports bars and side steps are also in the works, and should be arriving in dealerships shortly. Beyond those basics, there's plenty more to come.

"Hopefully by the time we get to [Musso XLV] launch [in May], we'll have some of this stuff to show you," Ellis said.

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