KGM Actyon review

Introduction

The KGM Actyon gets its name from blending “Act Young” and “Act On”: it appears KGM (formerly Ssangyong) envisions Actyon buyers to be, as Jack Black once said, all hip and now.

It certainly looks sharper and more modern than older models in the brand’s range, like the larger KGM Rexton. It’s closely related to the new KGM Torres and you can see that in the design, inside and out, though the Actyon is positioned as the sleeker, sportier option.

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What Car? indicative Personal lease example (subject to status)

1.5h K50 SUV 5dr Petrol Hybrid Auto Euro 6 (s/s) (176 ps)

Expected annual mileage	5000
Term months	36
Deposit months	12
Monthly payment	£268.19
Initial payment	£3,218.28

Step-by-step

Leasing works a bit like a long-term rental. You drive it, but you don’t own it.

• Choose your car, pick your terms and apply for lease credit online
• Pay monthly rental payments for your chosen term length
• Drive it, enjoy it, then give it back at the end

What you get

When you lease with Autotrader you get all of this:

• Full manufacturer’s warranty
• Road tax and roadside assistance included
• No admin fees
• Free returns within 30 days*

In partnership with

£3,218 initial payment, 36 month contract, 5000 miles p/a. Subject to status and conditions.

• Lower total monthly cost than PCP/HP
• No balloon payments
• Road tax included

Rivals include the critical and commercial hit that is the Kia Sportage as well as the Peugeot 3008 and Volkswagen Tiguan but the Actyon sits above those rivals in terms of size and price.

How does it fare among such tough family SUV competition? Let's find out...

What's new?

- June 2026: We drive the KGM Actyon Hybrid for the first time

- January 2026: The KGM Actyon goes hybrid

- July 2024: The KGM Actyon, the brand’s sleek family SUV, is revealed

Overview

The KGM Actyon is bursting with standard equipment, as well as interior and boot space, but unfortunately its talents stop there. It’s sub-par to drive and its engine can be quite thirsty for a hybrid. The Kia Sportage is a much more well-rounded and cheaper option.

Pros

• Incredibly generous standard kit
• Lots of interior and boot space
• A fairly quiet cruiser

Cons

• Firm ride
• So-so fuel economy
• Pricier than rivals

Trims available

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K50

This is the only trim available but fortunately it’s very well equipped. It gets heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, privacy glass, dual-zone climate control and lots more.

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Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

The KGM Actyon has gone hybrid (HEV): it has a 1.5-litre petrol engine and twin electric motors that combine for 201bhp. You’ll get from 0-62mph in 9.0sec; it’s quick enough, even if the hybrid Kia Sportage (7.9sec) is a bit quicker.

The gearbox is a six-speed automatic and, unfortunately, it’s a bit sluggish. It often dithers about for half a second before kicking down and giving you the power you’re after.

Still, overall, this new hybrid setup is an improvement over the now-discontinued, non-hybrid Actyon – that car was slower and less smooth.

What hasn’t improved is the handling. In other words, the hybrid Actyon still fails to impress on a country road. Despite having relatively firm suspension that, to its credit, contains body lean well, the car is held back by imprecise, vague steering and an unsettledness over mid-corner bumps. The Sportage instills more confidence, feeling more composed, agile and grippy.

The Sportage offers a much smoother, calmer ride too, as does the VW Tiguan. The Actyon’s ride is rather firm and unforgiving over potholes and bumps, and it never really settles down, even at motorway speeds. Sure, we never found it overly harsh, annoying or uncomfortable, but its issues are always noticeable.

Speaking of motorway speeds, the engine is hushed at a cruise – and it can switch off entirely whenever the electric motors take over. There’s only a bit of wind and road noise to contend with.

“With better steering and more grip, I think the Actyon could be a tidy handler.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

The KGM Actyon sits you suitably high above the road, giving it a proper family SUV feel – you have a more commanding view ahead than you would in a Kia Sportage.

Viability is fine but not class-leading, because while it’s easy to see out of at junctions, the wide rear pillars hamper your over-the-shoulder view. Fortunately, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera and 360-degree camera all come as standard.

The 12.3in infotainment touchscreen suffers from a slightly confusing menu lay-out and slow response times, plus the shortcut icons on the screen are positioned on the left, meaning they're pretty much as far from the driver as they could be.

There’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard, but annoyingly the screen removes the climate control settings when smartphone mirroring is in operation – you have to press an on-screen icon to bring them up again. We’d prefer these controls to be permanently displayed or, even better, get their own panel with physical dials like in the Sportage.

With the interior design, KGM has taken a minimalist approach for a smart, clean look. There’s a good amount of leather helping make it more premium than budget options in the class – the Dacia Bigster for example.

However, none of the materials feels particularly plush to the touch, so it can’t match the Mazda CX-60 in this department. And, to a lesser extent, it feels cheaper inside than a Peugeot 3008 and VW Tiguan.

“The Actyon's gear selector looks solid and of a high quality so I was surprised to find it’s actually a bit cheap-feeling to touch.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

Up front in the KGM Actyon there’s a generous storage area under the front armrest, large door pockets, a tray for odds and ends in front of the gearlever, two USB-C outputs below the air vents and a wireless phone-charger pad located by the central armrest. Head and leg room are very good, even for taller drivers and passengers.

Make your way to the back and you’ll find six-footers will be very comfortable with the amount of head and leg room available. There’s also enough space to seat three adults side by side in relative comfort. There's no option of a panoramic roof but the car's tall side windows give it a generally airy feeling. Back-seat passengers can charge their devices using two USB-C outputs located on the back of the front centre console.

The back seats split in a 60/40 fashion – unlike the rear seats in the Kia Sportage, which fold in a more practical 40/20/40 split. There are no levers in the boot to drop the seat back so you have to open the back doors to fold them down. On the plus side, the seat backs lie relatively flat when they're down. There's no option of a ski hatch.

At 668 litres, the Actyon's boot space is big, although it’s not quite as capacious as the one in the KGM Torres (703 litres). The Dacia Bigster has a slightly bigger boot too, coming in at 677 litres, though the VW Tiguan and Kia Sportage have smaller boots, offering up to 652 and 591 litres respectively (depending on the version).

“I consider the level of interior and boot space to be two of the Actyon’s greatest strengths.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

The KGM Actyon has a list price higher than that of most rivals, including the Kia Sportage (by a huge margin), as well as the Peugeot 3008 and VW Tiguan (by lesser ones).

To help make up for that, KGM throws in a lot of kit. There’s just one trim level, called K50, and it gets heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, privacy glass and dual-zone climate control to name a few of its features.

The Actyon’s hybrid setup officially averages 46.4mpg, which is much better than the previous Actyon petrol’s 33.1mpg figure. Mind you, compared with other hybrids like the Sportage HEV, it’s nothing special – that car averages 50mpg, officially.

There’s no plug-in-hybrid or fully electric Actyon, meaning it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense as a company car because it sits in a relatively high BIK tax band.

KGM and the Actyon have not appeared in a What Car? Reliability Survey so we can't give you an idea of how dependable it might be. As standard, KGM gives its cars a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, which is longer than a lot of brands but not Kia (seven years) or Toyota (up to 10 years).

The Actyon hasn’t been safety tested by Euro NCAP but comes with automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control and a system that lets you know when the car in front of you has moved off. There’s also blind-spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert and a system that will stop you opening your door into the path of other cars.

“On a hilly country road, I saw just north of 30mpg, which is a bit disappointing.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Buy it if…

- You need a roomy interior and a big boot

- You want hushed cruising manners

- You appreciate lots of standard kit

Don’t buy it if…

- You’re looking for competitive pricing

- You want sharp handling and a settled ride

- You want class-leading fuel efficiency

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