Ssangyong may hail from Korea but it uses Italy as its inspiration and India’s Mahindra & Mahindra as its main funder in chief. Korea’s 4th largest auto maker was in a spot of bother back in 2011, the Mahindra organisation swooped in with the money and got 70 percent shareholding. The Tivoli is the net result a compact SUV aimed at the Nissan Juke and Renault Capture. The Tivoli has very much a European influence as it was designed by an Italian consultancy and is the result of a 42 month development programme costing around £215 million pounds. The end result of that investment is a rather funky looking interior and a choice of 1.6 litre petrol or diesel engines. The newly developed e-XGi160 petrol engine delivers up to 126ps max power. The 1.6-litre diesel is expected to arrive by the middle of the year. Ssangyong have gone for a timing chain which helps limit engine noise and to ensure strength and durability the engine block is protected at the bottom with an aluminium bed pate. Standard equipment will include Smart Steer electronic power steering system which offers three different steering modes (Normal, Comfort and Sport), automatic air conditioning system, an infotainment system with a 7-inch touch screen, parking sensors and smart key entry. Are you still laughing at the Tivoli Mini owners? Thought not. Ssangyong has yet to set a price for the Tivoli in the UK and will confirm by the Geneva Motorshow. Industry analysts say a price below £13k is possible.

TIVOLI
Automatic	Manual
Dimension(mm)	Length	4,195	4,195
	Width	1,795	1,795
	Height	1,590	1,590
	Wheelbase	2,600	2,600
Engine	Type	e-XGi160	e-XGi160
	Fuel	Petrol	Petrol
	Displacement (cc)	1,597	1,597
	Max. power (ps/rpm)	126/6,000	126/6,000
	Max. torque (kg·m/rpm)	16.0/4,600	16.0/4,600
Transmission		6 speed automatic transmission	6 speed manual transmission
Brake (front/rear)		V-disc / disc	V-disc / disc
Suspension (front/rear)		McPherson strut / Torsion beam	McPherson strut / Torsion beam
Wheel & tyre		205/60R16, 215/45R18	205/60R16, 215/45R18
Kerb weight (kg)		1,300	1,270
Fuel tank (litres)		47	47
Boot capacity (litres)		423	423
Fuel Consumption (km/l)		Combined 12.0 (urban 10.7 / highway 14.0)	Combined 12.3 (urban 11.3 / highway 13.8)