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SsangYong in Korean means two or twin dragons and legend has it that their strength comes from an inseparable relationship. Over the past couple of years they might well have felt inclined to pop out and incinerate a few foes on behalf of “their company”. With or without supernatural help however the firm has survived and its new Korando and first compact SUV heralds, it is said, a new era.

SsangYong was the first foreign Chinese automotive acquisition a few years ago but that unravelled. The company became insolvent at the beginning of 2009 but was refinanced by the end of the year and production re-started. Now majority owned by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, the UK importer too recently attracted a new proprietor.  The Korando therefore leads the re-launch of the company here.
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Audi Q3 10/12/2011
 
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Two bad winters saw SUVs go from zero to hero.  All the signs from auctions and car supermarkets, at this time of year at least, show their used values are the only ones holding firm or going up.

So, hot on the heels of Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque, Audi’s “me too” Q3 launch could hardly have been better timed.

And it’s not merely the prospect of another bout of bad weather that’s behind this.  The chattering classes of suburbia have re-discovered what those of us in the country have known all along - the SUV is a year-round, all-round vehicle with a greater range of ability than anything else on the road … or off it.
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Land Rover’s latest creation arrives this month to (almost total) rave reviews in the press. This is a light SUV with a hefty agenda – it’s meant to change the perception of Range Rover, carve out a premium niche above the already classy Freelander and attract customers new to the sector not just the company.

Range Rovers are seen as big, expensive, luxury vehicles and the Evoque offers a new interpretation of the marque. Range Rover Sport might have been a precedent (much further up the scale) but Audi’s TT was a very clear inspiration.
 
Nissan X-Trail 16/10/2011
 
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Nissan's X-Trail SUV has been given a make-over for 2011.

Compact SUVs, like compact MPVs (people carriers), are big sellers now and all the top names have piled in – ‘premium’ brands and the rest. BMW has brought out a new X3 - larger to slot between the recent X1 and latest X5, there’s an Audi Q5 with a Q3 coming soon and Mazda has a CX-5 ready to fit in under the CX-7.
 
 
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US President Dwight D Eisenhower used to say that the two key ‘victory assets’ of World war II were the C-47 (‘Dakota’) and the Jeep.  It’s 70 years since the 1941 Jeep – compact, lightweight with high and low ratio four wheel drive – changed the whole way an army operated.

Another military star who saw the Jeep’s potential was Master Sergeant Ernest G Bilko (aka Phil Silvers).  From a rented shop-front in Roseville, Kansas, Jeeps “diverted” from Fort Baxter’s Motor Pool were painted, smartened up and offered for sale as a new imported small car under the name “Arrivederchi”.
 
 
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In the not too distant past, when looking at some Mercedes-Benz models for fleet choice lists, they haven’t seemed as competitive as some rivals.

Before the current C-Class model, introduced in 2007, they had appeared a little pricey when compared to equivalent BMW and Audi models, but new UK equipment grades and specification on the C-Class fixed the problem.
 
 
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Skoda’s rescue and renewal by Volkswagen post-1989 and the Soviet collapse has been a huge success. One of the oldest surviving motor manufacturers, the Czech company has retained considerable autonomy but repaid it by producing car after car which really hit the mark. The big push now is on the 4x4 front.

Skoda has had a four wheel drive range based on the Octavia and Superb for some time.  Not confined to performance models, ‘Scout’ versions of the Octavia Estate which ride higher for greater ground clearance appeared quite early on.

 
 
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Some say you can’t be a petrolhead until you’ve driven an Alfa Romeo. Trawl the company’s history and it’s easy to see why: Ascari, Nuvolari, Mezzario and Fangio have all steered them to victory; Zagato, Bertone, Giugiaro, and Scaglietti have all styled them.

The cars have won more Targa Florios  - considered by many to be the greatest of all road races – than any other manufacturer and a man called Enzo Ferrari managed its Formula One team before moving to Maranello to dabble in car manufacturing himself.

 
 
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Volkswagen’s first Touareg launched towards the end of 2002 was a respected on/off-road 4x4 ‘premium’ SUV.  A revamp in 2007 reaffirmed its position.  Late last year ‘Touareg II’ arrived for 2011 model year.  It’s new from the ground up.

Again for the second generation, Porsche Cayenne is twinned to the Touareg – it has its own petrol engines and distinct chassis dynamics but the Diesel is from VW.  The partnership has worked well for both, VW sold half a million of the old Touareg world-wide and the Cayenne has consistently outsold Porsche’s own sports cars.

 
Mini Countryman 23/05/2011
 
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When Alec Issigonis sketched his idea for a economical small four seater car with a wheel in each corner, seating for four, and a transversally mounted engine driving the front wheels, on a table cloth in the early 1950’s it’s unlikely that he could of predicted just how influential his mid dinner doodle was to become.

Trying to come up with a solution to steal sales from European bubble car manufacturers  Issigonis had just drawn what was to become the blueprint for nearly all future small cars: Issigonis had designed the Mini.

Step forward more than half a century and BMW – makers of the Isetta - and one of the European manufacturers Alec was trying to beat- now make the Mini including both the Clubman, and Cooper. All BMW Minis owe their names to versions of the original Issigonis designed BMC car, including this one, the new Mini Countryman.