Diesel-hybrid SsangYong Kyron SUV

SsangYong Kyron

Possibly trying to impress prospective investors that may help the struggling company survive the ongoing economic turmoil, SsangYong plans to present a diesel-hybrid-powered version of its old Kyron mid-size SUV.

I’ve been waiting for a SUV like that for the last couple of years. I mean, who needs a gasoline-powered hybrid, when you can get much, much better mileage when combining a fuel-sipping inline-four diesel engine with an electric motor?

With such a powerplant, a car-based SUV like, say Hyundai Santa Fe can get up to 7.0, may be even 6.0 l/100km in a city cycle!

Well, it looks like the Koreans are going to soon start selling such an SUV. Planned to be officially revealed in Seoul by the end of April 2009, the SUV will offer at least 25 percent increase in fuel efficiency.

Unfortunately, the company doesn’t elaborate on what kind of engine will be used in the hybrid vehicle, but if it is a 2.0-liter four-banger currently powering the M200 2.0 Xdi model, than its city cycle fuel economy may go up to 7 l/100km (33.6 mpg) making the car both greener and cheaper to drive.

And it will be more agile, too!

Hope, we will see something like this for the next-generation 2011 Porsche Cayenne Diesel. Considering Porsche’s engineering prowess, it will be a real asphalt-burner with solid green credentials.

So far, the Kyron competes only against the hybrid-powered Toyota RAV4, and Nissan X-Trail. Soon, there will also be a torrent of both car- and truck-based SUVs equipped with hybrid drives, but most of them will be motivated with gasoline-electric powerplants.

Photo: SsangYong

See also: 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid goes on sale soon