KGM Actyon Review 2025

Despite three decades selling SUVs in the UK, SsangYong had an issue — few people had heard of it. Those who had were largely underwhelmed by its eccentrically styled cars. New ownership saw the SsangYong name retired at the start of 2024 with a series of new models promised, this being its second — so should you now be taking notice? Find out with our full KGM Actyon review.

There’s a visual closeness between the Actyon and the firm’s first new-era model, the KGM Torres launched in 2024. It’s also fair to suggest that any double-takes you experience wondering if you’ve just spotted some kind of Range Rover Evoque aren’t wholly accidental.

Despite the KGM Actyon’s styling suggesting otherwise it’s only 40mm longer and taller than the Torres, pitched as being sportier, slightly more coupe-ish shape. That’s a trifle far-fetched — if anything, given the solid, windowless bodywork behind the back doors you’d be forgiven for wondering if this was a van rather than a car.

It isn’t, though, with KGM billing the Actyon as a 'C+-segment car'. In layperson’s terms that means this family SUV is closer size-wise to the likes of the Peugeot 5008 and Skoda Kodiaq, yet priced more in-line with the popular Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai and the UK’s best-selling SUV, the Kia Sportage.

Once inside the KGM Actyon the contemporary approach of the dual 12.3-inch screens looks quite classy, nestled in a mixture of wood-patterned detailing and soft-touch materials — quite the opposite of the exterior’s eccentricities.

Unsurprisingly there’s a lot of KGM Torres about the Actyon’s dashboard and the only feature that really sets it apart is a new, KGM-branded steering wheel, shorn of the old SsangYong logo. While the dash looks sleek using the touchscreen on the move proves fiddly, which is especially annoying considering the lack of many physical controls.

Happily the sporty, scarlet-highlighted cabin is comfortable and generously spacious for both passengers and their cargo, much more so than other SUVs for a similar price. KGM’s decided to offer the Actyon — at least for the time being — solely in its range-topping K50 trim level ensuring its value-for-money factor is ever-present.

Rather bafflingly, this approach is replicated with the Actyon’s single propulsion option because it’s not a company car driver-tempting plug-in hybrid, EV or even a diesel, but a 163PS petrol. It copes adequately in terms of providing the KGM with reasonable performance, but its thirst and high emissions limit its potential appeal.

Disappointingly, ride and handling aren’t that impressive either — the Actyon’s 20-inch wheels serve-up an experience that’s too jittery too often. On the plus side it does settle down swiftly and it’s admirably quiet on the motorway.

Whatever the claims for its bodystyle, this isn’t a sporty car. Its steering’s light, the perceptible lack of body control through the bends adds a hint of jelly-on-a-plate to proceedings and its not exactly brisk.

However, drive the KGM Actyon in the manner in which most will pilot a family SUV and there’s not a great deal to complain about, especially when priced at £36,995.

Not helped by its 20-inch wheels, the KGM Actyon’s ride quality spoils what might otherwise be a perfectly acceptable driving experience. It simply fails to absorb bumps well — on country roads especially, it picks a fight with every rough spot on the road surface.

There’s also a good dollop of body roll through corners, rather more than you might expect from such a firm-riding SUV.

It does settle down a little at speed but even on a relatively smooth motorway it still keeps its occupants somewhat over-informed as to the presence of every expansion joint, ripple and surface change encountered.

Around town the rough ride is ever-present, but while you do feel every lump and ripple, the car actually tackles speed bumps better than many rivals. Its light steering adds a feeling of urban manoeuvrability, abetted by good all-round visibility, a 360-degree camera and a turning circle of only 10.9 metres.

Sporty it ain’t, though. The steering is lacking in feel and body control isn’t good enough to prevent quite a bit of movement when cornering. We also found the front tyres struggled for traction when trying to pull away from a standstill with any gusto, though grip through corners was less of an issue.

Drive it in the manner in which most will and relish the fact that a good deal of trouble has been taken to make KGM Actyon a noticeably quiet car at all times, and there’s not a great deal to complain about.

Just one engine is available for the KGM Actyon — a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 163PS and 281Nm of torque sent to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox.

Just 1.5 litres might seem a tad puny for a 1580kg SUV yet, despite a gently lethargic gearbox, it will deliver respectable acceleration, reflected in its 10.8-second 0-62mph time. It can get a raucous when pressed, but not majorly so — it’s largely well-muted by KGM’s extensive noise-suppression measures.

The KGM Actyon has yet to be crash-tested by Euro NCAP but the sole K50 trim level is respectably equipped with active safety features.

These include Autonomous Emergency Braking, Safety Distance Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Front Vehicle Start Alert (a system which lets you know when the car in front has moved off, in case your eyes don’t work), Forward Collision Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Assist, Blind Spot Assist, Safety Exit Warning and a Speed limit Warning.

The KGM Actyon has a 1500kg braked towing capacity.

According to its maker the KGM Actyon is billed as a ‘C+-segment’ model which in plain language means it’s larger than most five-seater, family-friendly SUVs.

At 4740mm long and 1680mm tall the Actyon’s closer in size to the Peugeot 5008 and Skoda Kodiaq than to smaller the Peugeot 3008 and Skoda Karoq with which its pricing is more closely aligned. Plenty of space for people and their luggage for the money.

The sporty, red-trimmed, heated, ventilated and electrically adjustable front seats are snug and comfortable, plus with the steering wheel adjusting for both angle and reach, a decent driving position’s easy to find.

The driver sits high which delivers good all-round visibility, bolstered by front and rear parking sensors and a 360 degree camera system, all of which are standard equipment.

Clutter is well catered for up front with a decent stowage area under the centre armrest as well as a wireless smartphone charging pad. There’s also a big open tray in the centre console and a useful little angled storage space where it joins the dashboard. The door bins will take large bottles but they’re made of cheap plastic and unlined, so anything in them slides around like a puppy on a parquet floor.

There are also USB-C charging ports up front, one of which you’ll need to connect your phone’s Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to the car’s infotainment system.

There’s acres of space in the 60:40 split/folding rear seats which are surprisingly comfortable. They can also be both reclined and heated to make them even more so.

The back doors also boast generously sized pockets and window blinds, while there are a further two USB-C ports on the back of the centre console. There’s also a neat phone holder hooked onto the back of the front seats’ headrests.

Pop open the KGM Actyon’s electrically operated tailgate and you’ll be wowed by the 668 litres of loadspace on offer — it blows raspberries at both the Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai for volume.

This can be expanded to 1568 litres with the rear seats folded (almost) flat, although there are no levers in the boot to lower them, meaning you have to open the back doors to do that. The step from the boot lip to floor is minimal, plus there’s some additional underfloor storage, as well as a single bag hook and a 12-volt socket on the side.

You can also access the boot via a kicking motion under the rear bumper, for which we struggled to find the correct action. Something akin to ouzo-fuelled Greek dancing eventually did the trick, but as we gathered up our spilled shopping, we felt we’d rather KGM had spent the money on levers to lower the rear seats from the boot instead.

The KGM Actyon’s switchgear-free dashboard and wraparound digital twin-screen panels somewhat flatter to deceive because quality of finish is harder to come by in some other areas. Assembly of the components seems up to scratch, but ‘scratchy’ is the best way to describe the plastics that abound as you ferret around.

The new KGM-branded steering wheel puts in a strong bid for the hexagon being the latest alternative to a simple circle. Mercifully the only physical switchgear on display — on said steering wheel — is pleasing to both touch or use.

Moreover, the Actyon’s sporty, red-trimmed, leather and suede seats are well made, snug and comfortable, both up front and astern. Visually the trim colour combination, aided and abetted by the red seatbelts, is reminiscent of a 1980s MG Metro — and that’s absolutely fine with us.

Two 12.3-inch screens is pretty much par for the course in family SUVs these days, but unfortunately the infotainment system thereby accessed in the KGM Actyon is nothing to write home about.

Graphically it just about looks the part, with menus arranged reasonably intuitively — more of a rarity that you’d think. Unfortunately, response times are occasionally rather laggy.

Given that it needs to be accessed for several other key functions such as heating and ventilation, the whole system takes far too long to boot up — you’ll find yourself waiting for what feels like an eternity just to switch on the windscreen demister.

A drag-down menu of shortcut icons would be more useful if some of the key ones — such as the shutter-upper for the speed limit warning alarm — weren’t so small as to prove hilariously unhittable on the move.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are fitted as standard to allow you to run your own music and nav apps through the screen, although not through a wireless connection. Annoyingly, should you want to change the climate control settings while running either system, the display switches away from your preferred form of smartphone mirroring.

The KGM Actyon range is astonishingly simple with a single drive system, a solitary trim level and price — £36,995. That’s it. The options list is equally abrupt featuring just metallic paint for an extra £650.

This SUV’s ace-in-the-hole is a standard equipment list which ticks so many boxes that you really should look at the top trim levels of rival machines to get a proper idea of how competitively priced the KGM Actyon might genuinely be.

We have a couple of niggles with that list, mind, such as the absence of wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Largely, though, it’s comprehensive.

The Actyon also walks a fine line in the size department being dimensionally closer to larger models in rivals’ ranges than the ones its aligned with pricing-wise. This makes the KGM appear even better value for money since it comes in cheaper in P11D terms than an equivalent petrol Hyundai Tucson or Kia Sportage despite its greater size.

You can, of course, have a Kia Sportage for a deal less than £37,000 but by the time you rustled-up an equipment list that can stand toe-to-toe with the KGM Actyon, you’ll need to give Kia some £37,290.

Sticking to the same equipment-parity approach, a Nissan Qashqai will set you back £38,875 and a Hyundai Tucson £37,400.

Of a more comparative size to the Actyon, prices for the Skoda Kodiaq start from £37,860 and £38,860 for the Peugeot 5008.

There’s no question that, from the perspective of company car buyers, the absence of either a diesel or hybrid engine, let alone a PHEV, does the KGM Actyon no favours.

Rivals with plug-in hybrid system offer single-digit company car tax Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) percentages, while the Actyon’s sole petrol engine option puts it in the top 37% bracket. This means a 20% taxpayer would pay more than £150 extra to tax it each month than rivals’ PHEVs. Even the petrol Tucson and Sportage fall into lower bands.

In fact, with an official WLTP CO2 emissions figure of 194g/km, the Actyon’s engine is so off the eco-pace that it also incurs a significantly higher, four-figure first year VED payment, though a price tag of under £40,000 at least means subsequent years will be cheaper.

An average fuel economy figure of 33.1mpg is equally unimpressive for a model newly launched in 2025, guaranteeing that despite some fine attributes, the KGM Actyon will be attracting little, if any, fleet interest.

The KGM Actyon is available in just one trim level called K50. If a similar hierarchy was followed from KGM’s other models then this would represent the top-of-the-range specification, so there is scope that less expensive K30 and K40 grade Actyons may be sold at a later date.

So what do you get as standard on the KGM Actyon K50? Starting on the outside you’ll find 20-inch alloy wheels, full LED head, daytime running and tail lights, automatic headlamps with main beam assist, darkened rear privacy windows, an electrically operated tailgate with a kick-motion opening function, keyless entry, front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera system.

Settle yourself inside to experience the Nappa leather and suede upholstery, electrically adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen to access the integrated navigation system, Bluetooth connectivity, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless smartphone charging pad, front and rear USB-C ports and adaptive cruise control.

The options list contains only one item — metallic paint at £650.