Written by Luke Wilkinson Published: 13 January 2025

Overview

The KGM Rexton is a seven-seat, four-wheel drive, seven-seat, full-sized SUV. Although it’s a relatively new nameplate, the car’s been around since 2018, when it was originally launched as a SsangYong. It’s not really capable of challenging the best SUVs in terms of ability, but it’s pitched as a great value alternative to similarly-sized cars at a substantially lower price.

It’s based on the same underpinnings as the KGM Musso pick-up truck, which means it’s tough as old boots. It can tow 3.5 tonnes and it comes as standard with a low-ratio transfer box and clever off-road focused technology like hill descent control, which makes it a massive hit with caravanners.

In effect, it’s a more affordable rival for the likes of the SEAT Tarraco and the Kia Sorento. When it was originally launched, SsangYong also said it was counting second-hand Land Rover Discoverys among the Rexton’s competitors, which could play out if said buyers are looking for reliability over badge kudos.

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What’s it like inside?

The material quality and build quality are solid, but it still isn’t quite as good as its Korean and European rivals. There are soft-touch materials for most of the items within reach, but the overall effect is a little more agricultural than, say, the Sorento or Volkswagen Tiguan. The quality issues in the cabin are balanced out by the sheer amount of space on offer, the practical seating layout and the off-road ability.

The layout is good. We like the placement of the buttons on the centre console. You also get physical climate control buttons in the centre console in addition to the menu in the infotainment system. The 9.2-inch system is good and it’s reasonably easy to navigate. The built-in TomTom navigation system is clever, and presents the locations of nearby speed cameras without needing to use a third-party smartphone app like Waze or Google Maps.

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The SsangYong Rexton’s cabin is huge, offering seating for seven as standard. There’s plenty of space up front for the driver and passengers. Space in the second row is equally plentiful. Headroom is good and legroom is generous, as the Rexton has an almost completely flat floor in the rear.

Surprisingly, there’s also a good amount of space in the Rexton’s rear-most seats. Normally adults need to fold themselves up like pretzels to fit in the back of a seven-seat SUV, but our six-foot tester could fit reasonably comfortably, although his head did brush against the rear pillar.

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Boot space and storage

The Rexton is at its best in five-seat mode. With the third seating row stowed, there is 872 litres of space. Fold all the rear seats flat and the amount of available space swells to 1,806 litres. There’s also a two-position boot board which raises the level of the boot floor up to eliminate the lip up to the third seating row’s backrests.

Because it’s such a massive car, SsangYong has found space for plenty of storage bins. There’s a huge cubby in the central armrest, deep door bins and a tray in the centre console that’s more than large enough for a modern flagship smartphone. Those in the rear are well-catered for, too. Second-row passengers get similarly cavernous door bins and accommodating pouches on the rear of the front seats.

Comfort

The Rexton’s seating position is commanding and the seats themselves are accommodating. We’re confident that you’ll be able to get settled behind the wheel no matter your size or shape.

Even the most basic K30 features electrically adjustable, heated and ventilated front seats, and heated rear seats. They all work well and represent excellent value for money. Similarly-priced rivals don’t come with any of this kit as standard.

Safety

Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the Rexton for safety, so we don’t have any information about how it’ll perform in an accident. However, you get lots of kit, such as autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, a speed limit warning, cruise control and seatbelt pretensioners.

The Rexton features forward and side airbags for the driver and front passenger, side airbags for rear-seat passengers and curtain airbags running the length of the vehicle. The amount of equipment is certainly impressive on paper, but the fact it doesn’t have an official Euro NCAP score is a turn-off.

What’s it like to drive?

If you want a Rexton, you only have one engine choice. It’s a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel unit with 202hp and 441Nm of torque. It’s a strong unit, offering lots of low-down grunt, although it does get breathless the higher up the rev range you climb. Acceleration on the motorway is adequate, with enough left in reserve at a slow cruise to nip past slow-moving traffic in the middle lane.

The Rexton’s standard four-wheel drive system is good, too. It comes with selectable two and four-wheel drive modes and a low-range transfer box, which means it’s handy off-road. The diesel engine’s lazy, low-speed torque also means the Rexton can pull itself out of ruts from which road-biased SUVs would need to radio for a tow.

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On the road, it struggles. The suspension is very stiff and the dampers aren’t particularly supple, which means the car can’t deal with expansion joint and potholes in a composed manner. Both send harsh shudders through the cabin, which makes the Rexton tiresome on a long journey. What’s more, despite this stiffness, there’s a lot of body roll.

The Rexton’s steering is oddly unpleasant, too. The first 10 degrees of movement are very light, then there’s a heavy spot as you head towards the quarter-turn mark, then it lightens up again. There’s also a constant vibration coming up through the column and rattling the steering wheel. It’s almost like you can feel the power steering pump working through the rack.

Thankfully the Rexton redeems itself when you take it off-road. We were extremely impressed by how it dealt with rough surfaces – its short overhangs and tough four-wheel drive system means it’ll claw through wet grass, sticky mud and technical cross-axle off-road tracks with ease.

Ownership costs and maintenance

The SsangYong Rexton is only available with a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. Officially, KGM says it’ll return 32.9mpg on the WLTP combined cycle, and we managed to average around 33mpg during our tests. That isn’t bad, but we think it needs a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Road tax is expensive, because the Rexton sits in the second-highest CO2 bracket. For that reason, we also wouldn’t recommend opting for a Rexton if you’re a company car buyer – especially if you’re mainly doing local journeys.

Dealers also tend to be small, local garages, and that should allow buyers to build more of a relationship with their garage, as opposed to dealing with a more corporate main dealer. The warranty on the Korando is seven years, and it lasts 150,000 miles, too. That shows how much confidence KGM has in its products.

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What models and trims are available?

The line-up consists of three models called K30, K40 and K50. The entry-level model features LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, a heated steering wheel, electrically adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, dual-zone air-conditioning and an 8.0-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The equipment list doesn’t stop there, either. There’s an arsenal of safety equipment, such as hill-start assist, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and trailer sway control which can detect when your trailer is fish tailing and automatically counteract the motion. Prices are super-competitive, especially considering the amount of space and kit you get.

For our full, expert verdict on the KGM Rexton, keep reading – does its bargain price make up for some of its shortcomings?  If you’d like to learn more about how we reached our decision on the car, check out our how we test cars explainer page.