PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province ― Ssangyong Motor is apparently prioritizing the export of its best-selling compact SUV Tivoli by launching the Tivoli Diesel in the overseas market in June, a month ahead of the domestic market.

The carmaker will also release a long-body model of Tivoli next year, said Ha Kwang-yong, executive director of Ssangyong’s production and quality integrated HQ, during his meeting with the media at the company’s Pyeongtaek plant in Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday.

“As everyone knows, we are hoping to advance into the U.S. market and sell more than 200,000 units including Tivoli there. Having different models of Tivoli is absolutely important,” he said. 


“Tivoli is a God-given opportunity for Ssangyong, which has managed to resuscitate through the sales of another popular SUV Korando until now. Our team is working on minimizing the vibration and noise of Tivoli,” he said.

Tivoli has become the main axis of Ssangyong’s renaissance after the carmaker reported the highest sales record in a decade ― 15,573 units have been sold worldwide between its launch on Jan. 15 and the end of April. Ssangyong has recently raised the Tivoli sales target to 50,000 for the end of the year.

The company on Tuesday opened up its body-manufacturing and assembly sections of its 860,000 square-meter Pyeongtaek plant, which produces all eight models of Ssangyong vehicles ― from the best-selling Korando SUV to the luxury sedan Chairman, and Tivoli.

A total of 145,000 cars were produced there in 2014, which is about 58 percent of the plant’s capacity. The company hopes the production will rise in the near future as it plans to introduce new models every year.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)