CarBrandLogos archive · SsangYong · 2005

SsangYongActyon

A coupe-roofed SUV in 2005, years early and not quite forgiven for it.

Photo: OSX · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in SsangYong history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the SsangYong Actyon, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Actyon arrived in 2005 with a steeply raked rear roofline and a heavily curved nose, a decade before BMW and Mercedes made the coupe-SUV a mainstream idea. Coming from SsangYong rather than Munich, it was received as evidence of a styling department out of control rather than as a trend.

2012 Ssangyong Actyons Sports D200S · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

2012 Ssangyong Actyons Sports D200S rear

Design and engineering

Underneath it was conventional: a front-mounted engine driving the rear or all four wheels, built at Pyeongtaek and also assembled in Ukraine, positioned between the Korando and the Rexton. The SUV was dropped in 2010.

2012 Ssangyong Actyons Sports D200S rear · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The Actyon Sports pickup, launched in 2006 with a conventional bed and a much calmer rear end, was the commercial success. It stayed in production until 2018 and gave SsangYong a foothold in the pickup markets of Latin America, eastern Europe and Australia that the company still depends on. The name has since been revived by KGM for an electric crossover.

SsangYong Actyon facelift 01 Auto China · Navigator84 · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance