Although the Rexton was designed in Italy by Italdesign, SsangYong’s designers and engineers in Korea were responsible for developing the stylist’s requirements into the final Class A surface data required by the various manufacturing processes for the vehicle’s body and interior trim. They relied on ICEM Surf for this crucial design development process.

Starting from the ‘point cloud’ data generated by the 3D scanning of the stylist’s agreed clay model, ICEM Surf was used throughout the design development and the generation of the Class A digital surface models of all the exterior and the principal interior components of the Rexton. During the design development process, ICEM Surf’s digital mock-up and dynamic surface analysis facilities, such as highlights analysis and curvature analysis, were used extensively. These enabled the development team to reduce to a minimum the number of iterations required to arrive at the final Class A surfaces, while maintaining the original design intent. This Class A surface data was then exported to SsangYong’s Catia CAD/CAM system for use in the production tooling design process.

Son Jung-Sup, computer-aided design manager at SsangYong Motor, said, “Not only did ICEM Surf enable us to reduce the time needed to complete the design development of the Rexton by some 60% compared with our previous methods. The quality of the final surface data was also improved. That’s important in the markets that SsangYong addresses with the Rexton and our other vehicles.”

As well as the Rexton, SsangYong has also used ICEM Surf for design development work on other vehicles in the SsangYong range, including the Musso-Sports and the Chairman luxury saloon car.

About SsangYong.
Founded in 1954 in Korea and with sales of US$2.85 billion in 2002, SsangYong Motor began in business as a manufacturer of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles, including mixers and fire-fighting vehicles.

The corporate name, SsangYong, dates back to 1986, when the SsangYong Group acquired Keowha Motors and launched a full-scale investment programme in automobile manufacturing. With the launch of a new SUV in 1988, the company established a reputation for innovation, leadership and quality in the SUV field in Korea.

In 1991, SsangYong Motor entered into a joint venture agreement with Mercedes-Benz AG. Under this partnership, SsangYong has been able to extend its business to include light commercial vehicles (1991), diesel engines (1991), luxury passenger cars (1993) and petrol engines (1993). In 1994, SsangYong Motor inaugurated its engine plant at Changwon to manufacture its own engines.