LONDON, August 21 (IranMania) - Bonyan Auto Manufacturing Group, an affiliate to Pars Industries Development Co, has already started assembling and manufacturing Chairman cars, MNA reported.
According to German car magazine "Auto Bild", the SsangYong Chairman is based on the platform of the1984 - 1995Mercedes-Benz W 124E-Class sedans. Chassis, axles, steering, brakes and engines are purely Mercedes, the rest being modified: The body is lengthened by 25 cm.
SsangYong is one of the lesser known Korean manufacturers, but it has a well known European partner in Mercedes-Benz, with whom it has had technical links for some time.
It builds Mercedes' faithful inline- 6under license and it uses it to good effect in the Musso, a big SUV styled in Britain and currently one of the fastest of its kind. Now the Koreans have gone even further, using not only a Mercedes-derived engine, but also a Stuttgart chassis. The result is the Chairman, a143 -mph (( 230km/h)) luxury car that was an instant success when it went on sale in Korea late last year.
Based on the floor pan of the previous-generation E-Class, the Chairman uses the Mercedes-designed and SsangYong-built3 .2-liter24 -valve inline- 6that produces220 bhp, delivered through Mercedes-Benz's latest5 -speed automatic. The car boasts traction control as well as a multilink rear suspension and electronic shock absorber control.
The interior of the16 .5-ft.-long ((5, 05m, see graphics above)) Chairman is equipped to full luxury standards, living up to its price of $66. 000in Korea.
Developed over a four-year period of collaboration between SsangYong and Mercedes, the Chairman represents an investment of $ 496million.
Designed for Far Eastern markets, the new car will also be sold in Eastern Europe. It will not - no doubt at the request of Stuttgart - be sold in Western markets where SsangYong sells its off-roaders.
The temptation of a bargain-price "E-Class" might be too tempting for the taxi drivers of Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia.
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