Is the KGM Actyon the best car you've never heard of? We take a road trip through Fife
'What is that,' asked one of my neighbours when the KGM Actyon was dropped off on my quiet street in Dundee.
It's a KGM Actyon, I told them. A what? KGM. Who? They used to be called SsangYong. Ssan-what?
It's fair to say KGM isn't a hugely well known brand in the UK, and neither was SsangYong, the company they bought over three years ago.
That's a shame in some ways. The South Korean firm makes a range of good value cars and commercial vehicles that come with impressive warranties.
The Actyon – pronounced Ac-tee-on – is the first entirely new car made by KGM and is a more svelte, coupe-inspired version of the KGM Torres SUV.
To my eyes it's a good looking car, with a sharp front end, a sleek silhouette, and some nice detailing. I also liked the fact it has proper door handles rather than the pop-out electric ones that have become all-too-common.
It's available in the UK in just one all-bells-and-whistles trim level called the Actyon K50.
Costing just over £38,000, it is KGM's flagship car. That sum buys you all the toys you could want, including 20-inch alloy wheels, a 360-degree parking camera, heated and cooled leather seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, a 12.3in infotainment system, and a power boot that can be operated by a button or by tapping your foot under the tailgate.
When it comes to engine options there's only one choice – a 1.5 litre turbocharged petrol unit paired with a six-speed automatic gearbox.
A 10.8 second 0-62mph time is reasonable but nothing to write home about. Plenty of pulling power means it doesn't feel much slower even when fully laden with passengers, dogs, and luggage, and it's also capable of towing up to 1,500kg.
At 33mpg, fuel economy is well behind that of rivals such as the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, and Mazda CX-5. I got less than 30mpg from the Actyon during a week of mixed driving. A few weeks after the Actyon left me I had the enormous, seven-seat Mazda CX-80 and managed to get 50mpg out it.
KGM does undercut its rivals, however, so what you spend on fuel will have been saved by the cheaper purchase price. All KGMs also come with a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
That's not quite on par with Kia's industry-leading seven-year warranty but much better than the three-years/60,000 miles most manufacturers give you.
Where the Actyon steals the biggest march over rivals like the Sportage and CX-5 is practicality.
Despite costing less than its competitors it's a bigger car. It's also very cleverly packaged, making the space discrepancy even greater.
Where the CX-5 has a 522-litre boot and the Sportage has 562 litres of cargo space, the Actyon trumps them both with 668 litres. Its sister car, the KGM Torres, has an even bigger, 703-litre boot – and it costs less.
That space advantage continues in the cabin, where rear passengers have very generous levels of head and leg room.
The dashboard layout unfussy and looks classy. Two 12.3in screens sit next to each other, resting on a wood-trimmed dashboard. The centre console has lots of storage space and sizeable door bins have plenty of room for drink bottles and snacks.
A high driving position gives a good view of the road and the seats are comfortable enough for long journeys. I took several long trips through Fife to Edinburgh and north from Dundee into Angus.
The Actyon will sit comfortably at 70mph, and while it's not quite as refined as the best of its rivals such as the excellent Mazda CX-5, it's a perfectly nice companion on a longer drive.
By far my biggest bugbear is the infotainment system. The touchscreen is counter-intuitive and slow to respond to inputs.
The car also beeps and bongs in an unnerving manner if it thinks you're breaking the speed limit (it frequently gets the limit wrong) or too close to either the middle line the side of the road.
On a couple of occasions, before I'd even got out of Dundee, a warning sign flashed up telling me I'm fatigued and to consider taking a break. My protestations that I have a six-month old baby at home and the new Swallow roundabout layout is a frustrating mess were met with complete indifference.
There's a lot to like about the KGM Actyon. It's a good-looking car with class-leading levels of space. Ride and refinement are acceptable. It's extremely well equipped and very attractively priced.
If KGM can sort out a better infotainment system, improve economy, and install a one-touch button to turn off all the nannying warning systems, it could be a contender.
£38,649
10.8 seconds
119mph
33.1mpg
194g/km
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