SsangYong Rexton History
SsangYong's body-on-frame flagship SUV since 2001 — styled by Italdesign and named 'Best Value' off-roader six consecutive years by UK four-wheel-drive awards.
Photo: “SsangYong Rexton RX290 Y200 Red (2)” by Damian B Oh / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
History
Launched in late 2001, the Rexton (from the Latin 'rex', meaning king) was SsangYong's flagship body-on-frame SUV, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio and available with a range of Mercedes-Benz-derived diesel and petrol engines. It immediately became SsangYong's most recognised export product and won the UK's '4x4 of the Year' Best Value award for six consecutive years.
The first generation ran through 2006 with two facelifts and was effectively continued with running changes through 2017 — an unusually long life for a single platform. A fully new second generation debuted at the Seoul Motor Show in 2017, switching to a modern body-on-frame architecture shared with the new Musso pickup and adding active safety systems and an electric parking brake; this generation continues under the KGM banner.
Generations
First generation (Y200/Y220/Y230) · Y200
Photo: “SsangYong Rexton RX290 Y200 Red (2)” by Damian B Oh / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Italdesign-styled body-on-frame flagship; Mercedes-Benz diesel and petrol engines; sold through 2017 with facelifts.
2003 Photo: “2003 SsangYong Rexton (Y200) RX290 wagon (2015-07-14) 01” by OSX / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain
2004 Photo: “Ssangyong Rexton RX 290 2004 (42802383994)” by RL GNZLZ from Chile / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
2005 Photo: “2005 SsangYong Rexton RX270 S 2.7 Front” by Vauxford / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2006 Photo: “Ssangyong Rexton RX 270 Xdi 2006 (14084135345)” by order_242 from Chile / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
2007 Photo: “Ssangyong Rexton II RX 270 XDi 2007 (16151800455)” by order_242 from Chile / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
2010 Photo: “Ssangyong Rexton RX 270 XDi 2010 (37644136931)” by RL GNZLZ from Chile / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
2012 Photo: “Rexton W kopia” by Olof Neergaard / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0
2014 Photo: “2014 Ssangyong Rexton EX 2.0 Front” by Makizox / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2016 Photo: “2016 SsangYong Rexton ELX Automatic 2.2” by Vauxford / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Second generation (Y400) · Y400
Photo: “SsangYong Rexton LET 220 Y295 Space Black (1)” by Damian B Oh / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
All-new modern platform shared with the Musso pickup; debuts active safety and electric parking brake.
Body styles
- 4-door SUV
Related models
Collect the nameplate
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