The new car – from the young automobile company Zotye International Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. (Zotye Auto), founded in 2005, from the Chinese province of Zhejiang. The model on sale in China with two petrol turbo engines in several trim levels, Chinese motorists can buy at the price of Zotye T600 79800-115800 yuan
The official premiere of crossover Zotye T600 held in April 2013 at the podium Shanghai motor show, and immediately caused a lot of heated debate in the automotive community. The point, of course, the appearance of the new Chinese crossover from Zotye Auto. Designers say the least, given its similarity to the creation of an unprecedented crossover German Volkswagen Touareg (front and profile of the body), and the stern copied from Audi Q5 and Acura RDX.
Plagiarism clean water, and these “sheep Dolly” the Chinese auto industry produces dozens. European, American, Japanese and South Korean automakers are already resigned to the fact of permanent copy of their products and create … with Chinese joint venture companies, because the car market in China the most promising and capacious in the world.
Zotye is following Haval’s example by launching ever more variant and variant of variants of exiting cars, all based on the same platform with the same engines and almost the same price points. The latest addition to the Zotye lineup is the T600 Coupe, the production version of the T600 S concept.
It is based on the Zotye T600. It should not be confused with the T600 Sport, which is a sporty version of the T600. The T600 Coupe is also a sporty version of the T600, but with an extra unique design; most notably at the front with new lights and a new grille and at the completely different D-pillar with.
Interestingly, the design of the dash differs from both the T600 and the T600 Sport. It has a digital instrument panel, an 8-inch touch screen, which is not very large for today’s standards, perforated pedals for extra Coupe speed, and loads of orange leather.
The new Zotye T600 Sport has been launched on the Chinese car market. Price starts at 95.800 yuan and ends at 149.800 yuan. The T600 Sport is a high end variant of the Zotye T600 SUV. The Sport comes with new LED lights, a new grille, a larger bumper, racy air intakes in said bumper, ans Sport-only alloys. The best however happens inside:
The SsangYong Tivoli is central to this aim, its built on an all-new platform to compete with cars such as the Nissan Juke, Ford EcoSport and the Vauxhall Mokka in the ever-popular (and still growing) small crossover market. While the Tivoli can’t match the striking styling of the Juke, this is arguably the best-looking SsangYong yet, and the company is claiming to have taken massive strides on the inside, too. The car will also come loaded with kit, including an optional seven-inch central screen on the dashboard.
Pros Spacious for its size Generous standard equipment Cheap
Cons Not as striking as the Juke Quality falls behind the best in class Bland to drive
The Ssangyong Tivoli competes in the small SUV market, alongside rivals such as the Nissan Juke and Kia Soul. These cars offer the look and feel of an off-roader, but with performance and running costs more akin to a family hatchback. Do bear in mind, however, they’re better suited to on-road driving than traversing muddy lanes. That’s certainly the case with the Tivoli, although unlike its aforementioned rivals, you can order it with four-wheel drive on higher trims. A 1.6-litre petrol or 1.6-litre diesel is available throughout the range, combined with a six-speed manual gearbox. A six-speed automatic is available for both engines on all but the entry-level SE.
You can put aside your reservations about the SsangYong badge, because the Tivoli is a thoroughly capable small crossover for the money. It’s not the most stylish inside or out, and it won’t win awards for ride comfort or refinement, but you get a lot of space and kit for little financial outlay. The latter two points are especially true of the Tivoli XLV, but it’s more expensive, and we'd go for the two-wheel-drive version to save some money. The standard Tivoli is decent to drive, while with the diesel engine and is by far the best on-road car SsangYong has built yet.
