Value of a good ANCAP rating now resonates with Seoul high-ups.

ACCEPTANCE expressed from visiting head office high ups that a healthy score from the nationally-accredited crash tester will boost Kiwi acceptance of the first car here from KGM has come as a relief for the distributor.

Even though the big cheeses from Seoul representing a make we've until now known as SsangYong have stopped short of absolutely assuring the new Torres will be subjected to the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme test co-funded by NZ agencies, KGM NZ's management say they are pleased that prospect is at least being seriously considered now.

The importance of ANCAP accreditation here became a subject of intense discussion at an event introducing media to the five seater.

While ANCAP scores are not mandatory here, a strong outcome - the best being five stars - can be a valuable selling tool. They are treated as a a must-have by the fleet and rental business, which volume-hungry KGM New Zealand has prioritised.

At present Torres is so new it has no international crash test score.

New Zealand is the first country in the region and just the second right hand drive market, after the United Kingdom, with which specifications are shared, to take the five seater SUV-styled model.

It will present in yet to come 152kW/280Nm 1.5-litre petrol front and four-wheel drive formats, at $49,990 and $54,990 respectively.

It is also delivering in the form driven by journalists today; as a full electric, for $67,990, with a 159kW/339Nm single motor, 73.4kWh usable battery and 462km WLTP range.

The initial shipment of 40 EVX electrics has already landed and is discounted by $1000 as an incentive.

A European NCAP score seems probable and it is possible sister scorer ANCAP might adopt the European market score. However, because the car is introducing to Australia in June, ANCAP might also prefer to undertake its own assessment.

But sacrificing cars via that regime is something KGM seems to find challenging, going by comment from Oliver HG Chang, general manager for the Asia Pacific and South America team.

A guest at the event along with Byung-Hun Woo (above), managing director for KGM’s Asia Pacific and South America business support division, Chang said the expense of an ANCAP test - which requires a brand to supply vehicles for destruction - was high.

He also questioned the necessity of its sanction, saying the company had already conducted exhaustive tests ANCAP/NCAP -like simulations and was satisfied Torres would achieve a maximum score.

“We have tested the car ourselves and we are confident it meets all the requirements they (ANCAP) have. We are sure it will achieve an ANCAP five star.”

However, he also accepts the brand assertion has no official standing, only ANCAP can provide that stamp. After further discussion, he indicated that perhaps the car might be allowed to undergo independent scrutiny from the Melbourne-based agency. This might occur at some point after it goes on sale in Australia.

At this juncture, though, allowing this was only under consideration. Headquarters in Seoul will make the final call.

Even that rates as good news to management for KGM NZ, whose intention is for Torres to be at the forefront for a K-pop-themed brand push.

The idea of a brand promotion that kicks in fully on March 31 is to present KGM as a funky choice that under-prices South Korea’s best-known auto makes, Hyundai and Kia.

While KGM officially stands for KG Mobility, in NZ marketing slogans will include ‘Korean Glamour Model’, ‘Korean Grade Mechanics’ and ‘Kiwi Great Motoring’.

Torres is just the start, with Chang and Woo disclosing the factory intends NZ to be a priority market.

En route for future availability are a Torres hybrid co-developed with China’s BYD arriving in mid-2025, the O100/Torres EVX electric utility in production from later this year (again with BYD’s Blade battery, but in a stronger format), a Torres coupe-crossover, a new Korando SUV with a retro look and potentially an electric MPV atop a new platform.

With those, and new-generation versions of models that Kiwis have known behind the SsangYong badge - notable Rexton - the hope is that volume will climb to several thousand sales a year, Chang said.

That’ll be a big lift for the brand, which in 2023 - when still SsangYong and mainly with the previous distributor - scored just 517 units, with 19 dealers, 12 of which have stayed with KGM.

KGM is thinking big globally, too. By 2026, it was to ship more than 300,000 vehicles to the 126 countries in which it represents. Last year 55,000 units left South Korea.

Torres has been the big thrust car; in the first six months of sale in its home market - where it has been since the end of 2022 - it outsold the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, both of which cost more here and do not represent in full electric.

Woo told launch attendees that Torres was a signature model that embodies KG Mobility’s desire to return to a “true and authentic” SUV.

“Embodying the sense of adventure and representing the freedom to explore places like Torres del Pine in the far south of Chile …. this new car will give its owners a remarkable and unexpected adventure.”

He said the battery-pure EVX was developed to return his brand to the global marketplace with a “differentiated electric SUV.” In NZ, it will replace the Korando-e, SsangYong’s only EV.

Woo said the EVX name was a combination of electric vehicle, and X, “which stands for eXperience.”

The O100 is effectively EVX with a tray deck body, but whereas it will come with a dual motor format to enable all-wheel-drive, the EVX SUV will only be front-drive, Chang confirmed.

KGM NZ general manager Kym Mellows said Torres’ launch marks an exciting, new era for design, performance, and product innovation.

“The SUV market is continually expanding and subdividing, and with Torres, we are filling the gap between medium-sized SUVs such as Korando and large SUVs like Rexton.

“This move will create new opportunities for us and most importantly our current and new customers as we continue to develop our product offering.”

National head of brand marketing Daile Stephens offers that “KGM is South Korean born and future bound.

“The brand positioning for KGM sees us leaning into our Korean origin. Korean culture is full of colourful contradictions and unexpected craft is at the heart of our brand. It pushes against its own rigid norms, with contemporary, abstract ideas, and produces them to a high level of craft.” This was reflected in a ‘crafted to unexpected’ promo line for the car.