How on earth could more people want a SsangYong Karando than a Yeti in Spain last month?!?!!?

http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2011/08/05/spain-july-2011-seat-ibiza-and-leon-on-top/

Quicker delivery? Cheaper?

Quicker delivery? Cheaper?

Å koda must have next to no presence in Spain and / or a useless dealer network.

It must relate to dealerships surely. Maybe Skoda are not well blessed out there and SsanYong are.

I've checked the What Car website and it only seems to come in 2WD so it is not even a car for rugged inland Spain. It looks a reasonable size though so if it is very cheap then it may make sense for some.

How on earth could more people want a SsangYong Karando than a Yeti in Spain last month?!?!!?

http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2011/08/05/spain-july-2011-seat-ibiza-and-leon-on-top/

Oooohhh ... looks a bit like that new Mazda!

Oooohhh ... looks a bit like that new Mazda!

Bob! behave!

Got to admit it's as ugly as sin.

I thought the Spanish had taste?

It looks just like all the others - sportage, Tiguan, Q3, Q5, Cashcow, Joke etc

Well, so far we've done 950 miles deep into France and we've seen two yetis and one roomster. Can't recall seeing a silly song or whatever they are called! ;-)

Got to admit it's as ugly as sin.

I don't think SsangYong have ever again achieved the heights of hideousness that they did with the Rodius:

In 2005 the Rodius won the dubious distinction of being voted "the ugliest car ever made" by visitors to motoring website CarData, and is described by Top Gear Magazine as a car "that looks like it got bottled in a pub brawl and stitched back together by a blind man" as well as being described as "having a face like a burnt thong" by the Australian magazine Wheels. In 2010, the Australian magazine liftout of the Sydney Morning Herald, Drive Life, described the car as being "so cack-handed in every aesthetic department it makes the average people-mover owner feel like they are getting about in an ultra-stylish Italian sports machine", later going on to calling it a "collapsing bus shelter on wheels".

And from the Guardian in 2006:

To quote just one random web entry: "The Rodius fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down." And to quote a second one, just for the fun of it: "If Martin Clunes were a car ... "

The Rodius is certainly a riot to look at - like something that has come into the hazardous materials disposal business, via an episode of Scooby Doo. The rear end of the car, in particular, is a sock to the jaw. It appears to be in the process of giving birth to another car. Either that, or it has reversed at high speed into a pig shed and has ended up fused with it.

Apparently they're popular in Australia.

Edited 6 August, 201114 yr by ejstubbs

And how many Sangyong things do you see over here????

Not many.

I think it's more a reflection of a fairly poor market for cars in general in Spain. I bet a lot of the sales must be to the holiday hire car market and The Yeti doesn't really fit in that market segment wherever it is sold.

Out of interest the Rodius was actually styled in the UK :peek: . Very popular with taxi drivers doing airport runs though.

I actually think it looks OK...

It's worth remembering the Yeti isn't exactly renowned for its good looks!

Ssangyong Korando 2.0d 2WD

Price: £17,500 (est); Top speed: 111mph; 0-62mph: 10.0sec; Economy: 47mpg; Co2: 157g/km; Kerb weight: 1591kg; Engine, type, cc: 4cyl, 1998cc, turbodiesel; Power: 173bhp at 4000rpm; Torque: 266lb ft at 2000-3000rpm; Gearbox: 6spd manual; Boot capacity: 486 litres

And how many Sangyong things do you see over here????

Not many.

This particular Karando (which by the way stands for Koreans can do, I kid you not) won't be on sale in the UK for a while yet. It is rumoured to come at some point though.

Shhhhhh!

Don't tell everyone, the Yeti is a secret here in Spain! I can get 15% off for a factory order delivered in 6 weeks or so right now...

Spaniards are incredibly brand aware. For example, few would be seen dead in a Skoda. Young Spaniards would much prefer to drive something from a Spanish company - ie a SEAT.

Those with more money tend to opt for a German manufacturer, specifically Volkswagen.

Those with even more money won't waste time with a Volkswagen, only an Audi will do.

Who am I to argue??

Spaniards are incredibly brand aware. For example, few would be seen dead in a Skoda. Young Spaniards would much prefer to drive something from a Spanish company - ie a SEAT.

Yet they also buy SsangYongs over Å kodas?!

It was a tongue in cheek comment!

A friend of ours loves their sing-song Rodeo as we call their Rodius. I went in it once, and cut my finger on the interior door handle (no joke). Paintwork was peeling. The gearbox linkage "broke" once leaving them stranded. It's almost engine-out to change a headlight bulb. All on an 18 month old car.

Every time he talks about it, he insists on reminding me it "has a Mercedes engine". So does my 25 year old 300E, and it's probably a much newer design!

Taxi drivers love the 250,000 mile warranty. Always a good sign of a desperate sell, offer a starship warranty a la Opel/Vauxhall!

I owned a SsangYong Musso previously - if they were still being imported into the UK, I'd be driving one now instead of the Yeti.

I owned a SsangYong Musso previously - if they were still being imported into the UK, I'd be driving one now instead of the Yeti.

Any specific reasons Jock?

We have a Ssangyong Actyon Pickup, had it for 4 years now, done 50k miles in it.

Totally reliable, massive bang for bucks. In fact the only thing that has gone wrong is that 1 backlight on the aircon panel has gone (who cares!).

It has an old fashion 4 speed torque converter auto, no DPF. Engine is noisier, interior is well put together but material is a little poor (lots of soft touch tough), but much much less tire roar than the Yeti despite having 255/60/18 tires.

Look's not everyone's cup of tea though: http://www.privatefleet.com.au/images/upload/Image/ssangyong-actyon.jpg

SSangyong have a large dealer network in spain, whereas you could probably count on just a few hands the number of Skoda Dealers. I know of only 2 dealers on the whole of the Costa Del Sol, and they are owned by the same franchise, as I used one when I got my Octavia fixed in Marbella 2 years ago. Those dealers that there are, tend to be dual franchise and sell VW cars alongside Skoda.

Skodas traditional role in spain is that of Taxis, and you'll see very few privately owned Octavia/Superb/Yeti/Roomster , although for some reason there are a few MK1 Fabias around.

Just come back from 2 weeks and 600 miles in Spain and saw just one Yeti - the one in the Marbella Skoda showroom.

SSangyong have a large dealer network in spain, whereas you could probably count on just a few hands the number of Skoda Dealers. I know of only 2 dealers on the whole of the Costa Del Sol, and they are owned by the same franchise, as I used one when I got my Octavia fixed in Marbella 2 years ago. Those dealers that there are, tend to be dual franchise and sell VW cars alongside Skoda.

Skodas traditional role in spain is that of Taxis, and you'll see very few privately owned Octavia/Superb/Yeti/Roomster , although for some reason there are a few MK1 Fabias around.

There are 85 Ssangyong dealers vs 180 Skoda dealers in Spain. Being such a large country, Skoda would probably need over a thousand dealers in the network to get "noticed".

Any specific reasons Jock?

I loved it. It was a workhorse, but it just did everything I asked it to do, reliably and with no fuss. The running costs weren't too bad either.

My wife loved driving it too.

If we could have bought a new one, we would never have gone looking for anything else, but as they weren't being imported into the country, we had to look elsewhere.

I actually think it looks OK...

It's worth remembering the Yeti isn't exactly renowned for its good looks!

Ssangyong Korando 2.0d 2WD

Price: £17,500 (est); Top speed: 111mph; 0-62mph: 10.0sec; Economy: 47mpg; Co2: 157g/km; Kerb weight: 1591kg; Engine, type, cc: 4cyl, 1998cc, turbodiesel; Power: 173bhp at 4000rpm; Torque: 266lb ft at 2000-3000rpm; Gearbox: 6spd manual; Boot capacity: 486 litres

More details here: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/new-models/2011-08/korando-leads-ssangyong-relaunch/

Can't really argue with the price, the performance and the kit it provides!