It is always hard to know how to look at the SsangYong Actyon; is it just plain ugly, or refreshingly different? I haven’t figured that out yet so for now I prefer to call it interesting. It sure is, from every side. The front lights give it an angry look, flanking a forward leaning grille. I found this very clean example in Beijing in 2016, looking almost as new.
The Actyon was a daring fastback SUV-coupe with large windows, short overhang front and rear, and complicated rear fenders. As a concept it was quite cool. I was fascinated by the wiper. It isn’t fitted in the middle, like on almost every other car, but on the left side. Round fog lights add some extra oddness.
The first generation SsangYong Actyon was made from 2006 until 2011. Amazingly, it was officially sold in China that whole time. It was available with two engines: a 139 hp 2.0 turbo diesel and a 150 hp 2.3. The former is very rare as most cities in China ban diesel-powered passenger cars. Our Actyon is a 2.3, recognizable by the ‘230’ badge on the front doors. The 2.3 was mated to a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic, FWD or 4WD.
The interior was in a good shape too and everything seemed original. The black leather seats have a Actyon badge on the back rest. The steering wheel seems very large for an SUV of this size.
A SsangYong branded audio system with a cassette player. Audio cassettes were very hard to find in China in 2016. The country moved to CDs around 2002 or so, and afterwards cassettes near-totally disappeared. But the owner of this Actyon still got one!
The Actyon is a rare find in Beijing. Sales were slow, due its looks and due to the high price. The base 2.3 model went for 239.800 yuan in 2007! But SsangYong didn’t give up and they even sold the second generation Actyon in China, from 2014 until 2016, still with the same two engines. Those are even rarer and I sadly ever saw one on the road.
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