Return of the Aztek? Strange Test Mule Spotted in Santa Monica

Pfft.. you call yourselves professionals! :-P

http://www.smotor.com/en/showroom/actyon/wallpaper.jsp

And caroftheweek nails it.

Good Find.

Kinda ugly car though.

Ssangyong, of course. Can't believe we didn't think of that, thanks caroftheweek.

Even Better!

http://carspace.com/blogs/curbthoughts/Scenes-from-the-Curb--Ugly-Cars

What exactly is this... thing doing in the States? I thought Ssangyong went belly-up.

Hope you guys got a tetanus shot and checked out for lead poisoning after being around that thing.

Lead poisoning?

I would have guessed a Chrysler (headlamps) or a new Bimmer SUV. They definitely cribbed these.

Let's see...

* Gag reflex? check!
* Production-ready assembly -- not a prototype? check (kind of).
* Gawky awkward proportions? double-check!
* Truly bizarre details? check!

This combo just smacks of a Chinese car. Hideous? Yes. But I'll give them credit for originality. At least they're not copy-cat chimeras of existing products. Like that strange Kia Sorrento meets X5 thing:

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/07/shuanghuan-sceo-chinese-bmw-x5-copy-cat.html

And many others:
http://gemssty.com/2006/10/29/top-10-copycat-cars/

Firstwagon - lame attempt at a Chinese quality joke.

gotcha

Come on Ed. You didn't know this was from China?
http://www.smotor.com/en/showroom/actyon/main.jsp

stovt001,
Ssangyong is Korean. About to go belly up with their lineup of unbelievably styled SUVs.

I see the pickup truck version of this thing all the time at Ontario, CA. Seems like a company there owns a few of those as I see them go to lunch in that truck at Ontario Mills many times.

Ummm ......I hate to break it to you but Ssangyoug isn't Chinese, it's Korean.

(you know...The country that brings you Hyundai and Kia)

Buy a map folks.

Cha-ching! Here is the answer:

http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/index.php

I walked up to one of these one time at Ontario Mills and see the word Phoenix and sure enough they are located at Ontario, CA. Looks like they are some electric car company.

http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/index.php

OMG1 I saw this very car on Saturday parked at Wilshire and 13th. I had to stop and take a look at it as well. It was attractive enough, but reminded me of a third-world BMW X6.

Come on, you really couldn't tell this was Chinese?
No one else does "horrible" like they do.

micah356

You couldn't tell it was Korean?

Well which is it? The lameness level of my joke depends on it.

Looking a the design characteristics I would say Nissan/Infinity or Honda Pilot/Ridgeline, or even Lexus RX. Might be Chinese. Definatley Asian brand.

OK, why are people still guessing? caroftheweek guessed that it's a SsangYong and dalaw got that someone's going to be importing it under the Phoenix name. By the way, SsangYong is NOT Chinese, though SAIC owns 51%. As as been mentioned, it's Korean and while in receivership, is not belly-up yet. See:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/09/ssangyong-enters-receivership/