Ssangyong is no more! Meet KGM Motors, and its new UK line-up

Ssangyong has officially been rebranded as ‘KGM Motors', drawing a line under a carmaker that took the occasional foray into truly eye-melting design.  

None of that now, of course. Indeed, the newly-named KGM has revealed more details about its revamped UK line-up, which will begin with the Torres SUV. And no, it won’t cost £50 million like the Liverpool-legend-turned-Chelsea-flop. Rather, we expect it to retail for a much more competitive £30,000 when it does begin production during the first quarter of 2024.

KGM will then follow the Torres with a triumvirate of other BEVs in the second half of 2024: the O100 pick-up truck and the KR10 and F100 SUVs. Yes, we’re bitterly disappointed these cars weren’t called the ‘Alonso’, the ‘Suarez’ and the ‘Gerrard’ too.

Moving swiftly on from the awful football jokes, these models will make use of an all-new platform which KGM has built in unison with BYD. It’s strange to think how far the brand has come since the days of the Rodius, which was so bad it would graduate from ‘Fail of the Century’ to ‘Fail of the Millennium’ - if such a category existed.

The overall model structuring will also see a revamp, with each car set to be offered in two variations using the names K20, K30, K40 and K50. Would it be wrong for us to suggest a range-topping ‘Ssangyong’ trim level to keep the name alive?

Anyway, these changes have been made to enable KGM to reinvent itself as a luxury brand, but has reaffirmed its commitment to making ‘robust’ vehicles in the future. So, we should all be expecting a direct competitor to the G63 in the coming years then. We’ll have ours in the suggested Ssangyong trim, thank you very much.

Managing director of KGM UK, Kevin Griffin, said: “The re-interpretation of the future design vision draws heavily on our unique heritage. As with the new brand identity, this marks a new era for both design and product, with all models moving forward adhering to this exciting, new approach – and we have some exciting new model launches coming.”

A moment of silence, then, for Ssangyong. How we [probably won't] remember you...