Saang Young Chairman W Updated Limousine Unveiled

The informal brother of Mercedes S-Klasse has changed its clothes, but still looks like a… Mercedes. Naturally, that’s not a bad thing but it wouldn’t hurt a little bit of originality. South Korea’s top car manufacturer Ssang Young has launched the new version of its Chairman W limousine.

The high-end saloon is a more opulent version of the Chairman W limousine that was launched in 1997. A successor followed close in 2008 which resembled a lot with Mercedes S-Klasse, thus respecting the Chairman "tradition" this way.

Furthermore the new Chairman W still relies in an obvious way on the Mercedes, so we came to believe that is the South Korean’s success recipe for the Chairman W in order to bypass competitors like Hyundai Equus and the Kia premium luxury model.

The South Korean manufacturer is launching the vehicle with three engine versions with the basic 3.2L engine on the CW600 delivering 296Nm of torque and 225hp. The second option is the 3.6L engine that puts out 250hp and 343Nm on the CW700, while the most exciting variant, the 5000 comes with a 5.0L V8 engine.

All variants are equipped with a 7G-Tronic 7-speed automatic gearbox from Mercedes-Benz, but this is all it has purchased from the Stuttgart automaker. The Chairman W comes with luxury features like touch screen Driver Information System, a 17-speaker audio system by Harman Kardon, a multifunction rear armrest with a control panel and vacuum-based doors.

The South Korean limousine comes in standard as well as a slightly longer wheelbase with the basic model standing in at 5,110 mm long with a wheelbase spanning 2,970mm.The longer version is offered with a wheelbase of 3,270mm and measures 5,410mm in lenght. On top of this, the Chairman W will set you back at around $105,000 on the high-end model, coming with an extended seven-year service plan.