Demand from around the world for a compact size SUV offering comfort, stylish design, space and safety has been increasing, and is expected to continue, especially in the rapidly expanding B-segment of the market.
‘Tivoli’ is a car that offers the fusion of great design and sensible practicality, as well as class-leading safety and convenience, and will attract the style conscious customer who seeks form and function from their first entry into the SUV sector.
This all new car takes its name from Tivoli, the Italian town near Rome with a reputation for style. Noted for its cultural heritage and beautiful location, the gardens at Villa d’Este have inspired many others to use the name, including the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.
Tivoli, SsangYong’s new compact SUV is designed to provide both pleasure and excitement, is the first new model to be launched following the merger of SsangYong and Mahindra & Mahindra. It is the result of 42 months of development and an investment of 350 billion Korean won, and will compete strongly on design, safety and convenience.
Following on from the Korando – a car well regarded for its more youthful and creative styling – Tivoli will take these young, powerful and robust design cues to a new generation around the world who seek their first SUV.
Under development for the past three years and seen in concept form at four recent international motor shows, Tivoli features a dynamic, urban look with a contemporary silhouette, and embodies the rhythmical motion of SsangYong’s design language, ‘Nature-born 3 Motion’ – Rhythmical, Dynamic and Dignified.
Inspired by contemporary city architecture, the car’s beautiful lines also reflect the fluidity found in nature.
The front of the car conveys a strong and purposeful look. The width is emphasised by the car’s slim-line grille through to the headlights, which together have been inspired by a bird’s wings in flight.
While the front bumper communicates strength, particularly emphasised by its dynamic air intake, the bonnet line is softer in character and stretches widely.
In profile, the car’s rhythmical character flows through to the rear bumper to give a voluminous and strong stance, complemented by 16” or 18” alloy or 18” diamond cut wheels.
The wide C pillar as another design cue endorsing SsangYong’s reputation for strong, powerful SUVs, while the chrome line detailing that flows from around the rear door, across the front door, and around the rear of the bonnet imbues Tivoli with a premium and sporting tone.
At the rear, the balanced and well-proportioned look continues Tivoli’s confident, youthful image, with the rhythm continuing through the rear light units to link the side and rear in harmony. The rear bumper provides a strong base, above which sits the wide opening tailgate, and below, the centrally mounted rear fog lamp.
The interior offers the modernity of a luxurious living space, with a stylish and contemporary look. Designed to offer driver and passengers easy connectivity to their IT devices, it also brings style, practicality and plenty of storage space. The compact yet deluxe interior also gives class-leading inner space and storage, and the width of the central fascia is accentuated, again by a look inspired by the shape of a bird’s outstretched wing.
An ergonomically designed D-shaped sports steering wheel affords optimised grip, while the premium leather covering gives a premium, tactile feel. The heating function also helps to warm the driver’s hands in winter.
The cylindrical-shaped instruments enhance the driver’s focus and motoring pleasure, while for the first time in this class, the cluster illumination can be personalised to any of six subtle background colours red: blue, sky-blue, yellow, white and black.
There are three interior trim colours, black, beige and red, with the red interior package especially designed for customers looking for a sportier ambiance.
Designed with passengers’ complete comfort in mind, the car seat function and materials have been carefully selected to create a sports car like look and feel: reclining and adjustable, and with premium touch material with quality stitching.
The generous luggage space of up to 423 cubic litres is enough to carry three full size golf club bags, and the second row of seats can also be folded fully flat for further carrying capacity.
The powertrain of the Tivoli is compact yet highly efficient with the choice of 1.6 litre petrol or diesel engines. In development for over three years, the car has been tested from minus 42 degrees in winter to desert temperatures of over 50 degrees, and with brake testing in mountain altitudes of up to 4,000 metres.
The newly developed e-XGi160 petrol engine delivers up to 126ps max power with 16.0kg max torque, and offering optimised performance for both urban and motorway driving with excellent NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) characteristics, and a variable induction system optimises fuel efficiency to deliver maximum performance in daily driving.
Other notable features include an advanced timing chain to limit engine noise, and for the first time in Korea, the application of an aluminum bed plate with high press die-casting to the bottom section of the cylinder block to increase engine strength and durability.
An AISIN 6-speed automatic transmission is also available on Tivoli. Already well proven, this unit is engineered to improve fuel efficiency and minimise power loss. Gear ratios range from 0.67 through to 4.04 help to transfer power smoothly through the gear changes, and further contribute to minimising vibration and noise.
The car has also been tested to the German DIN standard for quality and reliability, the same testing procedure used by premium European car manufacturers.
On sale in the UK this summer
