2021 SsangYong Rexton detailed: Facelift reveals important improvements to better take on rival seven-seater SUVs like the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X

SsangYong has teased Australian-specific details of the imminent Rexton facelift, revealing new front-end styling and increased equipment levels on one hand, but also likely higher pricing and a reduced range on the other.

Due on sale in late March or early April, the full-sized seven-seater body-on-frame SUV answer to the Toyota Fortuner, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Ford Everest steps up with a freshly-minted nose featuring a redesigned grille, LED headlights and bumper, while elsewhere there is revised side-body cladding, restyled alloys and different LED tail-light lenses.

However, the website also reveals the deletion of the base EX rear-wheel-drive grade that currently sits at $39,990 drive-away, suggesting that the mid-spec ELX all-wheel-drive version from $46,990 may become the new entry-level Rexton.

Read More About Ssangyong Rexton

2021 SsangYong Rexton revealed: New-look Toyota Fortuner and Isuzu MU-X rival confirmed for Australia

The EX's demise may also mean the end of the 165kW/350Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine and 2WD, meaning that all future versions for the time being will be powered by an improved iteration of the company's 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel.

Driving all four wheels via a new eight-speed torque-converter to replace the old seven-speed 7G-tronic unit supplied by Mercedes-Benz, it delivers 12 per cent more power (at 149kW) and five per cent greater torque (at 441Nm) than the outgoing 133kW/420Nm diesel.

SsangYong's teaser reveals new front-end styling and increased equipment levels on one hand, but also likely higher pricing and a reduced range on the other.

Serving this fourth-generation Y400 series Rexton since it arrived in Australia in late 2018, the latter has been the sole engine choice in the ELX and flagship Ultimate.

With the extra oomph comes a 0.4 litre per 100km jump in fuel consumption, with the 2021 models now returning 8.7L/100km and 223 grams per kilometre of carbon dioxide emissions (up from 218g/km).

Rounding out the improvements include the adoption of Trailer Sway Control that gently applies brake pressure if lateral movement is detected, revised instrumentation with a big 12.3-inch full-colour LED cluster offering several digital dial designs, a wireless phone charger, a reshaped joystick-style gear lever, restyled steering wheel with paddle shifters, the adoption of an overhead console, seatbelt reminders for all positions, multi-pairing Bluetooth connectivity and a rear-cabin sleep mode to mute the speakers out back.

There is also a rear-cabin 'talk function' so that second and third row-sat passengers can converse more audibly with the driver and front passenger via a mic and speakers.   

Further information, including pricing and full specification details will not be divulged until early next month.

Read More About Ssangyong Rexton

SsangYong continues trading after bankruptcy filing, with 'business as usual' for Australia

In 2020, Rexton sales in Australia rose by more than 50 per cent year-on-year, to 323 units compared to 213 in 2019. However, the brand still has a long way to go before it can catch up with the market leaders, with the most popular ladder-frame chassis seven-seater SUV – Toyota's Prado – finding some 18,000 homes, ahead of the MU-X (7049), Pajero Sport (6017), Everest (5996) and Fortuner (2883).

Over the same period SsangYong sales jumped by nearly 70 per cent, to 1751 registrations versus 1040 in 2019, with the Musso (1084 sales) leading the charge, followed by the Rexton and Toyota RAV4-sized Korando (252 units).

In 2020, Rexton sales in Australia rose by more than 50 per cent year-on-year, to 323 units compared to 213 in 2019.

A SsangYong spokesperson said that the company continues to operate as normally around the world – including in Australia – after it secured protection under South Korea's bankruptcy administration process on December 22, 2020.

It came after the South Korean arm of Indian industrial giant Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) filed for bankruptcy, following the failure to meet accumulating debt.

Last September, M&M announced that it had halted funding to SsangYong, adding that it would seek to “transfer, dilute or cease its controlling stake in the company after a decade of ownership.