KGM Actyon 2025 review: Korean brand rises from Ssangyong’s ashes with surprisingly accomplished Sportage rival
** Insert movie-related pun here **
What compels us to choose one new car over another is unique to each individual, but there are a few key things we all look out for. One of them is fuel economy (or range, in an electric car), and on that front, KGM’s predecessor Ssangyong didn’t exactly have a stellar reputation — a Challenger tank is more economical than some of its back catalogue.
With the new Actyon it’s business as usual — the coupé-SUV’s 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine manages just 33.1mpg, officially, which is about as impressive as Luke Littler’s probable 100m sprint time. But as with Littler, the Actyon shines in other areas — in fact, it’s the firm’s best car to date.
If you’ve not heard of KGM, it was formed in 2023 after KG Group — a giant conglomerate specialising in chemicals and steel, among other interests — bought out bankrupt Ssangyong, the least well-known of all the Korean carmakers. The brand insists that, despite the new owners, its history can still be traced back 70 years. But in the UK, the revitalised company is having to crawl from the embers of Ssangyong tentatively, rather than phoenix-like, throttling its supply of new cars to avoid fines related to the government’s electric vehicle mandate.
That’s because the Korean brand still sells the Tivoli, Korando, Rexton and Musso models, all of which are combustion-powered. The most recent model, the Torres, also comes with an electric twin, dubbed Torres EVX, but that car is not going to turn the ZEV mandate dial for the company, as it expects to shift no more than 145 of those this year.
All of which means that KGM hasn’t a hope in hell of satisfying Westminster’s EV quotas. Its solution to this is to keep total car sales below 2,500 — the magic point at which carmakers get sucked into the ZEV vortex. For the Actyon, that means capping sales at 400-500 units, which means they aren’t exactly going to be filling up our roads, regardless of how good it is.
Actyon is a blend of both “Act Young” and “Act On”, according to KGM, but more importantly for the marketers it’s a name that cries out for film-related puns. A series of roadside signs on the way into the launch venue read, “ARE YOU… READY… FOR SOME… ACTYON”, and movie clapperboards adorned our lunch tables. The car’s advertising campaign’s tagline is “Lights. Camera. Actyon.” The possibilities are endless. Ish.
The Actyon is based on the same underpinnings as the Torres, sharing the same wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) and powerplant under the bonnet, but is a little longer and wider, meaning it’s roomier inside, despite a slightly lower roofline.
It’s an attractive design, and the first model to have been penned in a new design studio wholly under KGM’s ownership — something the company was able to invest in after it finally made a profit in 2023, which Ssangyong hadn’t considered might be a good idea over its 17 years prior, apparently.
The only weird part of its look is the addition of what appears to be a pair of handles, positioned either side of the bonnet — a feature also found on the Torres — which even the UK sales director couldn’t confirm a use for; they’re not load-bearing is all he could say. The PR boss told me she ties her dog to these when changing shoes before and after a muddy walk, though you can’t help wondering if a different sort of dogging was on the mind of the person who dreamt them up.
Moving swiftly on, and inside, and you notice the cabin is leagues ahead of the models produced under the Ssangyong badge in terms of materials, fit and finish. In the UK, you can only get the Actyon in the top spec K50 trim level, and with every single options box already ticked, for a very competitive £36,995.
The lack of choice (beyond paint colour) makes the purchase process very easy indeed, and means the car is fully loaded with things like Nappa leather and suede seats, which have electric adjustment and are heated and cooled in the front, while heated in the rear; auto-dimming LED headlights; a 12.3in full colour touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple Carplay; a powered tailgate with kick sensor; rear window sunblinds; and a heated steering wheel.
It also comes with all the safety features you could imagine, and a nice easy way to switch off the ones that are bothersome — you can swipe down on the screen and tap icons to turn off the coffee break and speed warning beeps, should you wish to.
The steering wheel is the first to feature the KGM logo on it, and is festooned with buttons — partly because physical buttons have been removed from the dashboard entirely. There isn’t even a dial or toggle for the temperature controls, which many people would argue is madness.
KGM gets around this with a new “favourites” button on the wheel, which can be programmed to take you directly to a preferred menu of the touchscreen, and on our test cars it was pre-programmed to bring up the climate control. It still means taking your eyes off the road to adjust the climate, though.
In another bizarre move, on the mirror opposite side of the KGM Actyon’s steering wheel is a button for the auto hold function for the handbrake. Blue moons come around more frequently than you’ll want to reach for this — the more obvious choice would have been to make this the drive mode selector, which is instead relegated to another digital button on the touchscreen’s dropdown menu.
Questionable control layout aside, though, it’s a spacious cabin, the seats are very comfortable, even for tall people, and there’s plenty of room in the rear for large adults, too — I’m 6ft 5in and there was plenty of headroom even for me.
Those in the back not only benefit from the features mentioned above but also tablet holders on the back of the front headrests and tilting backrests. Children and young adults will feel like they’re in the lap of luxury.
The driver’s seat is a surprisingly good place to be for reasons beyond comfort, too. You get an excellent, elevated view of the road, the six-speed automatic gearbox manages to shift cogs pretty well and the engine, while not delivering great efficiency, does at least feel pretty gutsy, despite a 0-62mph time that no one will be bragging about down the pub (10.8 secs, for the record).
Most would consider the Actyon a rival, in size terms, for the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, VW Tiguan and Nissan X-Trail, though KGM was keen to compare it to the 1.6-litre Kia Sportage GT Line S, which is similarly loaded with kit, has similar power and torque (also going through the front wheels), and considerably less boot space (562 litres vs 668 litres), and costs more than two grand extra. The Actyon will tow 1.5 tonnes (braked), too, which is near enough the same as the Sportage.
But what KGM didn’t include in its comparison table was fuel efficiency, and Kia’s mild-hybrid-assisted powerplant gets 43.5mpg, so you could travel an extra 10 miles for every gallon of fuel. Over time, that adds up, and you’ll need to consider the first year VED rates: £1,650 for the Actyon or £270 for the Sportage, because the KGM is much less efficient.
The steering is light in feel, regardless of whether you’re in Comfort, Sport or Winter drive mode, and requires rather more input than the best in the Actyon’s class — it’s certainly not as finessed as a VW, Skoda, Hyundai or Kia — but it’s far from horrible. What’s more, the suspension feels really rather accomplished, with a decent balance between stability, ride comfort and sportiness. This is far and away better than any Ssangyong model in terms of driving dynamics.
Even better, it features extra sound-proofing material and glazing designed to shield you from the world outside better than any car from this stable before, and that means the noise, vibration and harshness is really rather good. In short, this is a much more sophisticated car than you might be expecting.
So, despite running costs being higher than rivals’, the KGM Actyon’s sticker price is likely to turn a few heads, as is the design, sumptuous and spacious interior, and keen driving manners. And when you’re limiting yourself to a handful of sales every year – it’ll easily sell every unit of its UK allocation — it’s right to focus on quality over efficiency right now. Efficiency and electrified powertrains are the final bit of the puzzle, because if the Actyon is a sign of things to come, KGM is in a very good place indeed.
Related articles
- If you were interested in this KGM Actyon review, check out what Jeremy Clarkson had to say about the Kia Sportage hybrid
- You might also like to read our Skoda Kodiaq 2024 review, which comes with seven seats
- Also take a look at how we got on in our extended test of the 2021 SsangYong Rexton 2.2 Ultimate
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