KGM (SsangYong) Tivoli (2024-) Review

Introduction

As part of the re-brand from SsangYong to KGM, the Tivoli has had a bit of a makeover. The compact SUV has made its name by offering cheap, practical and well-equipped transport to the masses. And while it’s still a relatively rare sight on UK roads, KGM is convinced the same traits remain. But now, the company hopes a fresh design will entice more customers into what has long been a respectable product.

But over the years, the Tivoli has lost its all-wheel-drive option, and with the brand known for rugged off-roaders, has that blunted some of the little SUV’s appeal? And will customers be receptive to the new look that sees the Tivoli get a slightly odd front end? Or will the fresh style and tech complement the existing talents of KGM’s smallest SUV model?

At a Glance

KGM has given the Tivoli a brave new look, with an image that looks more like that of an electric car than a compact petrol-powered crossover. The faired-in nose with semi-hidden radiator grille makes it feel modern, though, and while the three little tabs in the nose won’t be to everyone’s taste, it isn’t exactly ugly. And it’s certainly more modern than before.

It’s more modern inside, too, where KGM has fitted a relatively smart interior that incorporates a well-sized touchscreen and (thankfully) proper heater controls. It isn’t too much of a button-fest, though, and the switchgear all feels reasonably robust. As do the materials. Perhaps they aren’t especially premium, but they feel as though they’ll withstand the test of time.

Space is more than adequate, too, and though the Tivoli’s 1.5-litre petrol engine is neither the most refined, nor the most efficient such engine on the market, it pulls pretty well and makes the Tivoli feel plenty fast enough. It’ll even tow, although the car isn’t ideally suited to the task.

It is well suited to urban and suburban transport, however, thanks to light steering and pedals that make it a doddle to drive, even if it isn’t especially engaging. Don’t expect thrills – there’s a bit too much body roll for that – and the ride is no better than acceptable, but for pootling around town, the Tivoli has perfectly adequate road manners.

Key Features

Key to the new Tivoli’s appeal is not only its price tag, but the value it provides. A healthy list of standard equipment means you don’t really need to choose a more upmarket version than the entry-level K30, which comes fully laden with air conditioning (albeit manual), parking sensors at the front and rear and even a reversing camera. There’s an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration tech, and there’s push-button engine start, not to mention keyless entry, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats.

The other reason for choosing the new Tivoli is its design, which is something of a departure from the earlier iterations. Yes, the tail end isn’t all that different, but the nose has changed dramatically, with the blanked-off nose decorated with three little tabs. With the grille lower down in the bumper section, it’s a look that won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it’s unquestionably more modern than what went before and was beginning to look a little old-school.

Performance & Drive

Choosing your Tivoli is relatively easy, because there’s only one engine option available, albeit offered with a choice of gearboxes. Whichever trim level you pick, you get the same 1.5-litre petrol engine that’s relatively powerful considering the units fitted in competitor vehicles. Where a basic Renault Captur gets just 90hp, the cheapest Tivoli offers 163hp and a resulting top speed of 119mph. Maybe it isn’t especially sporty, but it’s faster than some cars in this class, and it’s more than quick enough to keep up with traffic.

Although you’re stuck with that engine, you can choose to marshal it yourself through the six-speed manual gearbox that comes as standard, or to choose the six-speed automatic that’s available as an option. Neither gearbox is especially clever or modern, but they do the job neatly enough and the automatic is more composed and competent than we feared it might be. That sounds like damning with faint praise, and that might be a fair accusation in a way, but the fact remains that while neither gearbox does anything spectacular, they’re both good enough at what they do.

Combine those transmissions with the 1.5-litre engine, the resulting powertrains are equally adequate without being spectacular. Neither is particularly efficient – most other cars in this class will provide better economy – and neither is especially refined, but they aren’t so thirsty or so noisy that they provide a noticeable blemish on the Tivoli’s copy book.

Similarly, the driving experience is all kinds of adequate. The steering is a bit light and occasionally vague, which is a bit alarming until you get used to it, but it means the car is easy to manoeuvre and handle. The ride is a bit choppy in places, and the car feels unsettled at times if you hit the wrong pothole in a corner at the wrong speed. But otherwise it’s stable enough, and the seats are absorbent enough to prevent it from feeling too jiggly or harsh.

The only real problem is the lack of an all-wheel-drive option. KGM (and, more to the point, SsangYong) made its name with competent, no-frills 4x4s, and the Tivoli was once among that number, but the decision to go front-wheel-drive only has left the Tivoli with an issue. Where the shortcomings in the ride and handling were perfectly acceptable in an off-roader, a road-biased car is held to slightly higher standards and that counts against the new car slightly. It also takes away one of the car’s key selling points, although the 4x4 Tivolis were never especially popular when they were on sale.

Running Costs & Emissions

When it was first launched, the Tivoli was offered with a fair few engine and gearbox options, including all-wheel-drive and automatic versions, but now the Tivoli is only available in front-wheel-drive petrol form, there isn’t too much arguing about which is the cheapest to run. The cheapest option will be the manual, which manages to return around 40mpg on the official economy test and emits 161g of carbon dioxide per kilometre. That’s hardly going to keep the company car drivers happy when you could have a hybrid Renault Captur or even a hybrid Suzuki Vitara, but it’ll be fine for private customers. Unfortunately, the automatic will cost a bit more to run, with official economy of around 37mpg.

Interior & Technology

While the Tivoli’s exterior has changed noticeably with modifications to the nose, the interior has had a slightly more subtle update. The new look is quite smart, particularly in K40 models with the automatic climate control panel, but the older design still shows through.

That’s particularly true in terms of the materials, which feel as though they were designed more for robustness than tactility. In fairness, that means there aren’t too many thin, cheap plastics knocking about, so it feels more upmarket than, say, a Suzuki Vitara, but that isn’t saying all that much. For a little-known, budget-orientated South Korean brand, it’s pretty well made, and the engineering is solid enough, but by the standards of VW and Renault, the materials don’t feel quite so brilliant.

Nevertheless, it exudes robustness, and the tech is similarly pragmatic in both its execution and its design. We’re pleased to see KGM stick with proper heater and ventilation controls on the centre stack, rather than dumping them in the touchscreen, and the general ergonomics of the cabin are pretty good.

Unfortunately, the touchscreen in the middle is less exemplary, with slightly blocky graphics and relatively low levels of functionality. It isn’t troublesome, although there is occasional lag in the system, but it doesn’t do anything more than the bare minimum, even in its most upmarket form. It does, however, come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto tech as standard, which makes it slightly more usable when you plug your phone in.

Practicality & Boot Space

As a compact SUV, the Tivoli doesn’t have an enormous amount of space on the inside, but nor is it cramped. For a car of this size, the 423-litre boot is pretty competitive, and that space grows to well over 1,100 litres with the rear seats folded down. With a 60:40 split in the rear bench, you can choose whether to have all three seats folded, or have one or two seats tucked away, depending on the seating capacity and load space you need.

Speaking of seating capacity, rear space is adequate without being amazing, but four adults should be able to get fairly comfy in there. The tallest rear-seat passengers might find headroom a bit tight and they might struggle a little for knee space, but the back seats are surprisingly comfortable and those of average height or less should find the space perfectly sufficient, even if it does feel a little claustrophobic in there.

Safety

The Tivoli has not been crash-tested by Europe’s independent safety organisation, Euro NCAP, since 2016, so its four-star rating is considered “expired.” However, although four stars seems a bit meagre when the likes of the Renault Captur romped to five-star ratings, there is a bit more to that than meets the eye. First of all, four stars is quite respectable, and secondly, the Tivoli scored quite well in terms of adult occupant protection and its scores in child occupant protection and even pedestrian protection weren’t bad.

Where it really fell down in 2016 was in terms of safety assistance tech, but the new model has more safety kit attached, and we’d expect it to fare slightly better if it were tested again tomorrow. As standard, the Tivoli comes with autonomous emergency braking, which can stop the car if the driver fails to respond to a hazard, and lane-departure warning, as well as driver attention alert and hill-start assistance. Traction control, a fleet of airbags and an electronic stability system are among the usual suspects found on board, too. It’s just a shame blind-spot warning isn’t fitted as standard.

Options

In total, even when you consider gearbox options, there are only four different Tivolis to choose from, which makes it a fairly easy decision. Once you’ve chosen between the two transmissions, it only remains to decide whether you want a K30 or a K40 model, each of which comes with slightly different amounts of equipment.

Opt for the K30 and you get a pretty comprehensive list, with 18-inch black alloy wheels, air conditioning and parking sensors at the front and rear. You’ll get heated front seats, too, along with keyless entry, a reversing camera and a heated steering wheel, not to mention automatic lights and wipers, an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPLay and Android Auto, and push-button ignition.

That’s a reasonable amount, but opting for the K40 gets you diamond-cut wheels, premium leather seats and the digital instrument display, as well as two-zone climate control and a larger nine-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation. Some visual tweaks including privacy glass and a rear spoiler are also thrown in.

Once you’ve picked between those, there’s a small choice of colours, with the monochrome selection of Grand White, Iron Silver and Space Black joined by the slightly more colourful Dandy Blue.

Rival Cars

The compact SUV market seems to be growing constantly, with ever increasing numbers of contenders in the mix. Pretty much every brand of note has a small SUV, whether that’s Dacia or DS, VW or Vauxhall, so the alternatives are numerous, to say the least.

Among the biggest names in the business are the brilliant Ford Puma, which is among the UK’s most popular new cars, and the Nissan Juke, which continues to enchant with its funky looks and surprising agility. The Vauxhall Mokka is a big player, too, especially as the most recent model is quite easy on the eye and comes with the option of electric power.

Other contenders of note include the comfy and competent VW T-Cross, the chic and classy Renault Captur and the funky, chunky Peugeot 2008. Toyota also offers the very capable, but slightly firm Toyota Yaris Cross, and Jeep is producing the surprisingly popular Avenger. For those that want something a bit more stylish, however, the Fiat 600 is offered in petrol and electric forms, and offers something of the 500’s styling on a more practical body.

Or, if you want a premium alternative, the Lexus LBX is based on the Toyota Yaris Cross, but it’s more refined and more upmarket, while the forthcoming Alfa Romeo Junior is set to offer a choice of petrol and electric powertrains, as well as a high-performance EV model that’s spectacular to drive.

But the KGM is really playing at the budget end of the market, where the Suzuki Vitara’s age is beginning to count against it and the Dacia Duster is soon to be refreshed. At the moment, the Tivoli feels like a solid choice among these rivals, but with a new Citroen C3 Aircross on the way and a fresh Duster waiting in the wings, it might feel outdated in the not-too-distant future.

Verdict & Next Steps

Although the Tivoli is still very much a budget option among compact SUVs, it has its appeal. You get plenty of space and rugged quality, as well as ample equipment and road manners that may not shine, but are certainly agreeable enough. So while the Tivoli may not be a class leader in any particular way, it’s a solid compact SUV that will do more than enough to keep its target market content.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the KGM Tivoli.

**Correct as of 20/08/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £2,590.56 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.