What's all this about?
It's a concept styling study from Korean firm SsangYong, called the XAV-Adventure, but in reality you're possibly looking at the next-generation Korando.
It's a bit Tonka toy, isn't it?
Yes, the chunky, bluff styling is designed to evoke old-fashioned 4x4s. Which is a refreshing attitude for a car company to have, as everyone else is homogenising into big, smoothed-off SUVs currently. The XAV-Adventure has some intriguing touches, like a carbon roof with a folding canvas centre section and an interior featuring a storage compartment in the rear hatch/door, allowing for the easy packing and unpacking of lifestyle accessories.
How about the engines?
A couple of 1.6 units, either a petrol or a diesel, either of which is mated to a pair of rear-mounted supplementary electric motors in something SsangYong calls E-4WD. The 3S-CUBE on-board sensory set-up also allows the car to automatically determine the road conditions and adjust the ride height/comfort accordingly.
So is this the new Korando or not?
Technically, it's designed to show off what SsangYong's future compact crossovers and SUVs - vehicles like the recently launch Tivoli, for instance - will look like, although the company itself hints quite broadly that this will be the fourth generation of the Korando, a model first introduced in 1984.
Matt Robinson - 15 Sep 2015
