Pictures have floated out onto the Korean internet of the latest Ssangyong Chairman luxury sedan, we say sedan, its more of a mini limo.
You may be wondering why Ssangyong is on China Car Times! Ssangyong is half owned by our very own fair SAIC (51% owned, to be exact), thus making it a half Chinese car. The exterior design of the latest Chairman is nothing special, its big, its imposing, its what every company Chairman would want to take him from business meeting to business meeting. Its whats on the inside of the car that most interests China Car Times.
The Chairmans of old were built off Mercedes Benz 1980’s E-Class platforms, we’re unsure if the latest above Chairman platform is Merc based or not, but if it the platform aint broken, why fix it?
The Interior:
The dashboard is definitely of Roewe 550 styling - Did SAIC take some style cues from their Korean brothers for the Roewe 550 dash? Check out the pictures in this article - there is some resemblance!
Thanks to M0l0tov for sending us the useful news tip!
Is it me or does this car look like a corss between a Merc and a Toyota Crown. I didn’t realise the old Chairman was based on a Merc platform. They certainly looked similar to Mercs and I’ve even seen one done up in Shanghai as a fake Merc.
Some of the engines in their SUV range are also Merc engines, gearboxes also.
People used to stick Merc badges on their Ssangyongs in the UK.
With the other 49% of Ssanyong being owned by Renault / Nissan ….. well, take a look at the Nissan Fuga / Infiniti Q45 ….. this Ssanyong Chairman is that car with a new grill. Still nice though.
Looks nice. But it´s only a copy of a Mercedes.
I like it! Ssangyong are claiming it’s all new, though theres certainly a merc look there, but thats the case with all far eastern super saloons really. BTW the last pic up is of an E-class interior for some reason :S (http://www.chinacartimes.com/wp-content/chairman-interior4.thumbnail.jpg)
Mercedes New C-class riped off !
I think you’ll find there are other cars ripped off in the making/styling of this car. Merc, toyota, Nissan, Infiniti….take your pick!
If it wasn’t over $100K, I’d love to see this thing sold in the states. Get rid of the badge on the hood and I’m sold. People gripe about them ripping off Benz (and rightfully so) but Ssangyong does pay MB a pretty penny to build engines under license, chassis, and other technology.
actually, it looks like a mix of some german sedans..
Sclass front, 7 series mid-section and shark antenna..
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which is not a bad thing.. this sedan looks pretty decent.. =)
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Ash, I just don’t get those interior shots… there are two COMPLETELY different dashboards shown.. I liked both, but the last picture shows a totally different dashboard.
You cant see the DNA between the two?
not from these pictures man!!
do you have any pictures taken from wider angles?
I agree about the DNA links. The main one has to be Mercedes…..
Anthony:
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SINCE WHEN does Renault/Nissan own 49% of Ssangyong??
Please spare us of your wrong informations!!
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Renault/Nissan owns SAMSUNG MOTORS, not Ssangyong motors.
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for those who don’t know, Ssangyong USED to have a partnership with DaimlerChrysler (currently dead) from 1991 to 1997, when Ssangyong was sold to Daewoo. But when GM took over Daewoo, they sold Ssangyong to SAIC.
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I even remember seeing some Ssangyong Mussos with very large “POWERED BY MERCEDES-BENZ” stickers on the back.
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those mussos looked awful, though..
Old link from an MG forum…. http://forums.mg-rover.org/archive/index.php/t-48746.html
Looks like the only reason SAIC have the whole company is because no one else wanted it….
Ssangyong is the most egregious IPR violator in China with ready built cars that just need badge and minor cosmetic switching to resemble other more reputable brands.
I once went into a Ssangyong dealership in Guangzhou that actually dared to rebadge one of their POS cars as a MB S600!! I looked the car over, opened the hood (V6) and asked the salesman how could they even call it an “S600″ (it had the MB tristar on the steering wheel, trunk, hood and other strategic locations) and his retort was that it was an MB/SSangyong JV that built the cars in China and allowed them to badge as an “S600″ referring as its model name, not the engine liter capacity!!! The gall and the balls!!
Their “CEO” SUVs are all over Guangdong disguised as BMW X-5s and it’s just pathetic to know that any nouveau riche Chinese guy would settle for that crap on the road with people snickering at him. What’s scary is that some people might have actually been lured into the whole scam that it’s a “JV” approved by BMW or MB and bought on those pretenses!!
I urge ALL people universally to boycott Ssangyong with the utmost prejudice!!!
(and no, I do not work for either MB or BMW)
the CEO is made by Double Ring (Shuan Huang) its not a bad car for the price, of course its lacking in certain areas, but overall it really aint bad for 120k RMB!
Yes Ash, but have you actually driven in one? A shocker to say the least, with a very high PFG rating!
Never driven one, im afraid. Its a huge car for 120k though. What is so bad about it? I would have thought the Mitsubishi unit would have been fine? Ive driven that engine before!
Underpowered, thirtsy, mamahuhu quality,more body noise than Paris Hilton, squaks and rattles like Hilary Clinton and drives like a dray. The Itchymiki donk is not a goodie either - never was - in this case it doenst help what could have been a reasonable vehicle if executed properly.
Defiantely a nice car….ppl should just lay off the similarity in looks. As if buying a Merc look a like for half the price with decent setup and fittings is something u’d complain about.
Some clarifications needed.
1. New Chairman is all new, it no longer uses Mercedes W-124 chassis and is cleared for sale in the EU and US unlike previous Chairman. So you will see new Chairman in EU.
2. The powertrain is Mercdes V8 and gearbox, however.
3. Renault does not own 49% of Ssangyong, banks and individual investors do.
4. New Chairman is hurt by stigmatized as being “Chinese” by public(even though it doesn’t have any Chinese engineering) and will have a tough time going up against much hyped Hyundai Genesis.
So what you are saying is the CHINESE owned (SAIC is the controlling partner) Ssangyong Chairman is much better than any of the cars that were put out when it was Korean owned and controlled… Looks like the SAIC input is pretty good.
Why did they name it Genesis? Maybe it’s the beginning of the end…..
he didn’t say that..
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you are
I hate China is extremely vocal and passionate about her Hyundai’s as we have heard from her on a few occasions before (look at some old threads)…. Just putting the elbow in there, you do have a sense of humour don’t you?
> So what you are saying is the CHINESE owned (SAIC is the controlling partner) Ssangyong Chairman is much better than any of the cars that were put out when it was Korean owned and controlled… Looks like the SAIC input is pretty good.
This car was in development before SAIC took over. Ssangyong has been on a free fall ever since, going from $300 million profit a year to three years of straight losses. So far, everyone agrees SAIC take over has been a disaster.
> Why did they name it Genesis? Maybe it’s the beginning of the end…
Based on US reception of Genesis line, it’s a new beginning for Hyundai indeed.
The Genesis looks like a decent enough vehicle (RWD V8’s rock) and I hope Hyundai have every success with it in the US market. Will we see it China? Maybe, maybe not. Too early to say seeing they are not even available in the US yet.
Now,I did OK at maths at school (yeah right) but if you could enlighten us on how Ssangyong made $300 million profit for the 3 years prior to SAIC when their total sales in that time were under $10 million? It has been getting steadily worse over the past 3 years but sales were up last year ($12 mil) so hopefully with the New Chairman and replacing other old designs they can start to make Ssangyong a better brand than it ever was…..
> Will we see it China?
Genesis will launch in China by summer, alongside US launch.
> Now,I did OK at maths at school (yeah right) but if you could enlighten us on how Ssangyong made $300 million profit for the 3 years prior to SAIC when their total sales in that time were under $10 million?
Simple. Ssangyong Motors’s annual sales are $3~4 billion, depending on sales and exchange rate. This is a company that sells 150,000 vehicles with ASP(Average Selling Price) of $25,000 per vehicle.
> It has been getting steadily worse over the past 3 years but sales were up last year ($12 mil)
An automaker with $12 million in annual sales?
> so hopefully with the New Chairman and replacing other old designs they can start to make Ssangyong a better brand than it ever was…..
Replacing models won’t do, they need brand refreshing. Perceived “Chineseness” of Ssangyong is its biggest hurdle in marketing to local consumers, as Korean consumers have a deep mistrust of all things Chinese.
Bloomberg pulled a fast one on me….. The quote from there is below. I had my income and sales figures mixed up
Ssangyong Motor Posts 2007 Net Income on Increased SUV Sales
By Seonjin Cha
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of China’s biggest automaker, reported a 2007 profit after boosting sales of Kyron sport-utility vehicles and other models.
Net income was 11.6 billion won ($12 million) last year, compared with a 196 billion won net loss a year earlier, the Pyeongtaek, South Korea-based automaker said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 5.7 percent to 3.12 trillion won.
The carmaker, controlled by Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp., boosted 2007 vehicle sales 10 percent to 131,637.
Yep, sorry…got my Korean car makers beginning with S mixed up. But as the car looks identical to the Nissan Fuga / Infiniti Q45 (even down to the dash) I suspect it is a very posh Chery QQ (i.e. nut and bolt copy of someone elses car!). Now I could be wrong, but the looks and design are just a bit too close, I am sure Nissan’s IP lawyers are preparing a case as we speak.
Yep, sorry…got my Korean car makers beginning with S mixed up. But as the car looks identical to the Nissan Fuga / Infiniti M45 (even down to the dash) I suspect it is a very posh Chery QQ (i.e. nut and bolt copy of someone elses car!). Now I could be wrong, but the looks and design are just a bit too close, I am sure Nissan’s IP lawyers are preparing a case as we speak.
> But as the car looks identical to the Nissan Fuga / Infiniti M45
Well, it looks like an older gen Mercedes to me.
> I suspect it is a very posh Chery QQ (i.e. nut and bolt copy of someone elses car!).
No it isn’t. There is no such thing as pirate car in Korea. Every Korean car ever built is either self-engineered or fully-licensed. This is the reason why there were no IP rights issue with Korean cars in the US and Europe dating back to 80s.
> Now I could be wrong, but the looks and design are just a bit too close, I am sure Nissan’s IP lawyers are preparing a case as we speak.
You clearly doesn’t understand foreigner’s problem with Chinese “piracy”. Derivative styling is not much of a problem, designers freely burrow from each other and it is hard to prove in court that one car’s styling copied another because the opinion is subjective. You have an IPR violation when you make an exact or almost identical copy of an existing item, especially mechanical parts. This is why Chery QQ6 wearing different styling but using parts from Matiz constitutes an IPR violation, while Ssangyong Chairman wearking a Mercedes derivative styling but totally new underneath the sheet metel is not and are cleared to sell in Germany.
If this thread goes off topic, and turns into a Korea V’s China thread, it will get deleted and Mr. I hate China rebanned, and anyone else as well!
Personally, I wouldn’t mind having a Ssangyong, they’re not bad. I’ve seen plenty in Spain. Maybe rebadge the vehicles as Chryslers and sell them in America. Hmm, Hemi Chairman sounds sorta neat.
Unlikely. Chrysler is not competitive in products above $30,000, having a $60,000 Ssangyong on their line up is an impossible sell.
Chrysler is looking for cheap imports to make 3% gross margin on, like importing a Chery for $7,000 and then selling it for $10,000. Ssangyong doesn’t fit the bill.
I expect SAIC to launch their own “Shanghai” brand sometime in 2015. In Europe, SAIC will stay with “Ssangyong” brand for both Ssangyongs and Roewes.
Well, it wasn’t me that stirred up things the last time if your memory’s fresh.
To “I hate China”: Why would you come to a forum on Chinese cars and call yourself “I hate China”. You are truly pathetic, ignorant and even a racist.
If you are really Korean I have an interesting fact to tell you about the Chinese and Korean communities here in New York City.
There is a neighborhood with a large Chinese and Korean population in New York City called Flushing. As the Chinese stores in this neighborhood increased their business and made substantially more profits they began to sell Korean products to Korean customers in Flushing, eventually under selling the Korean stores. Some local Korean newspapers began to publish un-flattering remarks against the much more prosperous Chinese stores and encouraged all Koreans to boycott all Chinese stores.
Well as you guessed eventually the Korean stores had to move out of Flushing.
The moral of the story is a retard Korean who calls himself “I hate China” will eventually cost your beloved Hyundai, and Kia a lot of lost business in China because the Chinese consumers will see what a racist bunch of bigots you are.
> There is a neighborhood with a large Chinese and Korean population in New York City called Flushing.
Actually Korean population has been moving away from Flushing, Queens and into New Jersey and Long Island suburb instead. As the new population migrates into a given area, the older population simply move out.
> Well as you guessed eventually the Korean stores had to move out of Flushing.
Because of population migration. Same story with Italians, there are hardly any Italians left in Little Italy as Chinese took over the area. This is common phenomenon observed all around New York.
> The moral of the story is a retard Korean who calls himself “I hate China” will eventually cost your beloved Hyundai, and Kia a lot of lost business in China because the Chinese consumers will see what a racist bunch of bigots you are.
This place is not being read by Chinese mainlanders. Even the site maintainer blogging from China has to go through proxy servers to get here.
What is all the crap about? -how far away have we got from a car forum - we could all start hate and racist bigoted comments but thankfully real people dont- lets stick to auto talk and cut the crap now!!!
Indeed. Comments closed.