The third-generation Hyundai Tucson marks the return of one of Hyundai’s best-selling global products to India. Can it make a mark in sales in IndiaIJ
The night before we headed out to drive the new Hyundai Tucson, there was a dinner with several Hyundai India executives. One of the most notable things that Y.K Koo, the managing director of Hyundai India was mentioning how grateful the Korean company was to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. When Hyundai came to India, they were an unknown brand, not just in India but globally.
“Shah Rukh Khan did not have to come onboard. In fact, the first time we approached him he did not”, Koo says before praising the marketing team of Hyundai at the time for convincing Shah Rukh to sign-up with the Korean company. And Shah Rukh Khan continues his association with the car company, an 18-year old association one of the longest brand associations by a celebrity in the world. And now, Hyundai is no longer the unknown brand, far from it, indeed it is one of the strongest car brands in the world.
Yet, Hyundai became a strong brand not on the basis no such of the driving dynamics of the cars they make, but more for their perceived ‘value for money’. After all the Santro was never a looker, and driving the Accent aggressively felt like being a very bad roller coaster ride. But of late things have changed. The new Elantra for example is possibly the most fun car to drive in its class despite being more affordable.
And that brings us back to the Tucson. The Tucson is in a rather unique segment in India, there is no other vehicle in this category. Rather at this price-point. The large five-seat sports-utility vehicle is a segment that in India only has luxury brands present, so there is a BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercedes GlC. This has not been an easy segment to sell cars in. Do you want a non-luxury brand SUV at this price, or do you want a bigger carIJ The Tucson, at least the versions that matter cost between Rs 22-25 lakh - those are what the diesel automatics. Those prices are extremely close to the prices of the new Toyota Innova and Ford Endeavour. The only other cars in this segment currently are the Honda CR-V and Skoda Yeti, both cars not setting the charts alight right now.
The Tucson is not a small vehicle, indeed the first thing you notice about this vehicle is that it is a lot larger than it seems, particularly with the 18-inch wheels it comes equipped with. There is also no doubt that this is a Hyundai car, as the vehicle clearly has the fluidic look replete with the ‘family’ hexagonal grille. The new elements of Hyundai’s ‘fluidic sculpture’ design, are a bit more subtle than before. In fact, the third-generation Tucson looks nicer and smoother than the sharper edges on the second-generation Tucson.
The insides of the car are also very nice, particularly the front fascia, where everything seems to be where they should be. The eight-inch touchscreen on the Tucson is quite responsive and the infotainment comes with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Navigation system is very good, but that is the same story across all Hyundai cars and the carmaker and MapMyIndia must be complemented for this. The audio system is again, very good. But most importantly, the seats, both front and back are comfortable, and the driving position is solid although a bit more shoulder support would be appreciated.
But how is the car to driveIJ We drove the new GlS spec diesel automatic. In this version, in addition to standard dual airbags and Anti-lock Brakes, there are also side-impact airbags but also ‘Hill Start’ assist, and downhill brake control and electronic stability control, so there is no doubt that the top-end model is loaded. To be fair, in a highly competitive market, particularly for cars in the 25-lakh price range such features are now becoming increasingly common.
The big news from Hyundai under the hood is the new 2-litre diesel engine; this new 1995cc turbocharged engine with 182 horsepower is quite a revelation. It is definitely quite punchy in the middle of the rev-range and while the six-speed automatic gearbox does get a bit confused dealing with the power if you mash your foot on the pedal. This is the same engine that might make it onto some other Hyundai cars, notably the Elantra in a few months time. The gearbox and engine however are very well-matched for city driving and the Tucson will feel very smooth to drive in the urban jungle. The auto-hold function with the electronic parking brake is quite useful and a feature that has only made it onto cars in this price segment.
But then we come back to the basic problem with the Tucson. The price; if you want a large car and if you think the price of a car should reflect the amount of metal on the car, then you may not want the Tucson. For those sort of folks there is the Innova and Endeavour. Here is the funny think, people won’t mind spending almost double the price of the Tucson on buying a Audi Q5 for example, but then they are buying into a brand. The Tucson is a very good and solid vehicle with a lot of features but it is not cheap. But it is worth the money.