Frankfurt Motor Show 2011: SsangYong showcases a bright future

For Korean automaker SsangYong, this year's Frankfurt Motor Show has marked something of a turning point, the symbolic end to a tough couple of years for Korea's third-largest maker of SUVs.

As the brand unveiled several new models designed to showcase its SUV design expertise, an enormous car carrier ship was arriving in Britain and preparing to unload the first batch of Korando vehicles marking a return to the UK.

Describing the new arrivals as a "giant leap for the brand," SsangYong's Paul Williams admitted that the past two years had been extremely testing.

"The new Korando also means that SsangYong returns with a significant addition to its range and pitches the brand into the all-important crossover segment," he said in a statement.

SsangYong is now partially owned by Indian engineering conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra, which is aiming to make it one of the world's premier SUV brands.

As part of that, it unveiled a production-ready sports utility truck designed to compete with premium SUVs and a new concept, the XIV-1, at the Frankfurt show.

The SUT-1, which comfortably seats five passengers as well as providing two meters squared of deck space, has been made as efficient as possible to comply with emissions standards and decked out with features such as a sunroof, RDS & Bluetooth audio, rear view camera, hinge sprung tailgate and a trip computer.

The XIV-1 concept, which marks something of a break from the brand's previous design ethos, is a Range Rover Evoque-like compact SUV which hints at SsangYong's future direction under Mahindra.

Both models are on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs through September 25 in Frankfurt, Germany.

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