Hyundai Motor India Limited has postponed launch of its new SUV, the Tucson. The SUV was originally slated to enter market on 24 October. The company press note stated that the launch has been rescheduled to a later date due to unavoidable reasons. Hyundai has not mentioned revised launch date.
The Tucson will join the Hyundai SUV range for India that now consists of the Creta and the Santa Fe. Hyundai will position the Tucson between the Creta and Santa Fe in terms of price and equipments. Hyundai had sold the first generation of the Tucson in India during 2005-2010 timeframe. It was discontinued due to poor sales owing to steep pricing. Hence, Hyundai is being careful about the pricing of the SUV this time, with the expected price starting from Rs 18 lakh.
The SUV is in its third generation at present and comes with Fluidic 2.0 design philosophy. The SUV is built on a new platform that offers larger cabin space. The face of the SUV is highlighted by a large hexagonal grille in chrome. It is flanked by sweptback LED headlamps. Tucson has more rounded body panels in line with Santa Fe. The raked rear windscreen extends coupe SUV kind of looks that is complemented by slim sleek tail lamps.
The interior has been spruced up with leather upholstery for the seats and leather wrapping for the instrument panel and steering wheel. India-spec version is also expected to get Android Auto feature, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and six airbags.
In terms of dimensions, the Hyundai Tucson measures 4,475mm in length, 1,850mm in width and 1,645mm in height and comes with a wheelbase of 2,670mm. Hyundai Tucson will be powered by a 2.0-litre CRDi diesel engine tuned in two state of tunes- 135bhp and 180bhp, mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
The company officially has not commenced booking for the SUV yet. Reports say some dealers have already started accepting bookings for Tucson for a down-payment of Rs 25,000.
