- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
3.2i, 6 cyl.
- Engine Power
162kW, 314Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 12.9L/100KM
- Manufacturer
RWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
5 Yr, 130000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
SsangYong Chairman CM600S
If you think this car looks a bit like an old Mercedes-Benz, there's a good reason - it is an old Mercedes-Benz. The badge says SsangYong Chairman, but technically it's based on the old mid-sized W124 Mercedes-Benz E-class that was sold globally between 1984 and 1995.
The Korean manufacturer is able to get away with this copycatting because Benz once had a financial stake in SsangYong and still has technical links.
As you can see from SsangYong's styling efforts, it's not shy about promoting the link. The version you see here with tombstone headlights is an update that has just gone on sale in Australia. The original, launched in the late 1990s, looked even more like an E- or S-Class Benz.
SsangYong is best known for its off-road vehicles such as the Musso, which was first sold here through Benz dealers, and more recently the Rexton, so a luxury saloon like the Chairman might seem an odd tangent.
But in Korea there's a big market for limousines, so much so that GM-owned Daewoo has just launched the Australian-built Holden Statesman there to take on obscure (to us) cars such as the Hyundai Equus, Kia Opirus, Samsung SM5 and the Chairman.
It's a bit of tit for tat in that regard, because the local SsangYong distributor is very much targeting the Statesman and the Ford Fairlane as the direct competition for the Chairman.
Despite the Chairman's elderly origins, it's hardly the veteran of this group. After all, the Statesman is based on the Commodore, which traces its lineage back more than 20 years, and the Fairlane links to the Falcon, which has been evolving for even longer.
What the SsangYong lacks most acutely compared to the Holden and Ford in Australia is credibility. The brand and the car are largely unknown and that makes the Chairman a hard sell.
However, on a value basis the Chairman measures up reasonably well. The single CM600S models sells for $56,990 - slightly more than either the base-model Fairlane Ghia or Statesman V6 - but it is more than competitive with both of them when it comes to standard equipment.
Leather upholstery (with a big 'C' embossed in the seats), eight-way adjustment for the powered driver's seat (with memory), seat warmers for all five seats, rear parking assistance and a sophisticated 10-speaker sound system are included. Front and side airbags lead the safety list, backed up by stability and traction control, a swingaway brake pedal and an electrochromatic rear-view mirror. There are no options.
Of course, a straight listing of gear doesn't tell much about the quality that goes with it, and here the Chairman does raise a few concerns. In our test car, which had just come from motor show duty, there were a few odd panel gaps and rattles, some squeaks, the air-conditioning fan was noisy and there was a rather unconvincing faux woodgrain that simply looked like black plastic. On top of that, the glovebox sprang open more than once on rough roads.
There is a luxuriant amount of space inside, although storage space is disappointing. The seating front and back is comfortable, the latter set up for two rather than three passengers. Apart from the backlit instruments, it's old style and dark, with a profusion of buttons and levers spread across the slabby dashboard and onto the doors. But everything adjusts in and out, up and down or sideways as required.
Hauling all the goodies around is a technical package that is straight Benz at its core, starting with a stretched version of the W124 rear-wheel drive platform that takes the wheelbase out to 2900mm and overall length to 5135mm.
Under the long bonnet there's a 3.2-litre, twin-cam, 24-valve, in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 162kW and 310Nm, and is offered only with a five-speed automatic transmission. Suspension is via a damper-strut arrangement up front and a subframe-mounted multi-link at the rear, working with an electronic shock absorber control system. Braking is supplied by front ventilated discs and solid discs at the rear.
As you might expect, the Chairman feels a bit dated to drive. But it's not as bad as you might think. The engine does a good job of getting up and going, despite the 1810kg kerb weight, only becoming intrusively noisy high in the rev range. It retains its composure though, even when revved beyond 6000rpm.
Ride and handling is not as well honed. Steering is light, with a large old-style Benz tiller. A certain remoteness is understandable, considering this is a limousine, but there's a disappointing amount of small bump intrusion.
All that leaves you with no doubt the emphasis here has been on honing the value rather than dynamics.
What's it got?
Leather trim; climate control; power front seats with memory; cruise control; remote central locking; audio controls on steering wheel.
What's missing?
Curtain airbags; satellite navigation; standard sunroof.