• Cheap to buy
• Thirsty
• High CO2 emissions

What are the running costs

The good news is that the cash price is well below most family SUVs, if not the MG HS. KGM also had a few finance deals on its website at the time of writing, although we’d expect many rivals to offer more tempting PCP and leasing deals.

The Korando won’t be particularly cheap to run, though. Officially the manual will do 36.7mpg and the auto 34.9, but we managed to drop into the high 20s fairly easily in our auto test car. Drive carefully and you might get closer to the official figures than in most rivals, although the economy is still somewhat disappointing.

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So too is the emissions. The economy figure should have been a warning, but 176g/km for the manual and 184g/km for the auto is on par with the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder turbocharged BMW X3 M50 which develops nearly 400hp.

Servicing and warranty

You get a five year or 100,000 mile warranty with the Korando. It’s not the absolute best in the business – you’ll need a Toyota for that – but it certainly gives more cover than the majority of competitors, MG and Kia excepted.

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KGM recommends a service every 12 months or 10,000 miles, and there are pay monthly service plans available.

Reliability

• No black marks on KGM’s record
• Good customer feedback
• Korando feels built to last

There shouldn’t be any concerns when it comes to the Korando’s reliability. SsangYong always built its cars to take some punishment, and the pre-rebadged Korando lasted well – owners tend to be very satisfied with their purchases.

SsangYong dealers also tend to be smaller, more local garages, much like the franchises that sell Subarus or previously sold value oriented brands such as Proton and Daihatsu. That should allow buyers to build more of a relationship with their garage, as opposed to dealing with a faceless corporate-styled main dealer.