▪ Back to the Dakar Rally in 9 years since 2009 with the 'Tivoli DKR'

▪ Peru-Bolivia-Argentina from January 6th to 20th, 2018—the toughest course ever

▪ Accelerate marketing activities such as motorsport events to increase SUV expert brand awareness

SsangYong Motor Company (CEO Johng-sik Choi;www.smotor.com/en) announced that the company will challenge the Dakar Rally, the world's most well-known off-road racing event, called the Death Race, in nine years after its last challenge in 2009.

SsangYong Spain unveiled the new 'Tivoli DKR' that will race at the 2018 Dakar Rally at the press conference in Madrid, Spain on November 21st, 2017.

The race will start on January 6th in Lima, Peru, and will finish in Córdoba, Argentina on January 20th, 2018, covering a total of 14 stages with more than 9,000 km of rough terrain, in which about 500 teams will be competing.

Celebrating the 40th edition of overall Dakar Rally and 10th in Latin American soil, half of the whole courses will be made up of sand dunes and desert areas, so the 2018 Dakar Rally is expected to be the toughest rally ever.

SsangYong Spain won the only European ticket awarded by the organization with the victory of the Tivoli Rally Raid 4WD in the European Dakar Challenge during the last Baja Aragón Race in July 2017, which clinched qualification for the Dakar 2018. The pilot of this race was Óscar Fuertes from Madrid. After three years racing experience with SsangYong Spain, he will make his debut in the Dakar in 2018.

The Tivoli DKR incorporates a powerful V8 engine with maximum power of 405hp/4200rpm and maximum torque of 550Nm/4200rpm, located in a rear-central position, and offering a balanced weight distribution between the front and rear axle. It also exceeds two tons of weight in race configuration, but can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in only 4.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 193Km/h.

SsangYong earlier made its first appearance in the Dakar rally back in 1994 with the Korando Family as the first Korean car brand to complete the race, marking the 8th place in overall. After that, SsangYong also participated in the Dakar with its Musso and Kyron, which was the three-year consecutive completion of the race within the 10th place.

CEO of SsangYong Motor Company Johng-sik Choi commented, "This challenge for the Dakar Rally in nine years will be a great opportunity to once again present the SsangYong brand and our outstanding technology," adding, "We will continue to strengthen our position as a global SUV expert and expand global sales through active marketing activities as well as participating in the world's leading motorsport events."