New Ssangyong Actyon ute due in March

The new Ssangyong Actyon Sports crew cab will be made available as a 4x2 and 4x4  and is fitted with an imported six-speed manual as standard. However, it  will also be available with a six-speed automatic transmission made in  Albury by Drive Systems International.

It is the factory that supplied Ford Australia until last year and had  made transmissions for Chrysler in the 1970s when it was named BorgWarner.

The new Actyon Sports Ute, like the current model, will be diesel only. It is expected to be extremely easy on the bowser with an official fuel  economy rating of around 6.5 litres per 100km, which could well make it  the most efficient ute in Australia.

The new powerplant is far more miserly than the previous engine, which  used an official average of 8L/100km with a manual gearbox and  8.7L/100km with an automatic.

The 2.0-litre four-cylinder common rail turbo diesel generates 114kW and  360Nm of torque. This is a sizeable jump over the last unit, which  generated 104kW and 310Nm.

Ssangyong's Australian importer Sime Darby has conformed the new ute  will be available in three model grades: Tradie, Sports and SPR, which  also make up the current line-up.

The new ute will have a sharp price and deliver when it comes to  standard equipment, says Ssangyong Australia chief, Jeff Barber.

"While we can't reveal the specifications for the Australian market  until launch date, we're confident of giving our competitors a run for  their money," he says.

Ssangyong will have an easier job selling this Actyon Sports ute thanks  to its design which is certainly less polarising than the previous model  which copped criticism for its radical styling.