Facelifted, 2018 Hyundai Tucson SUV: This is IT!

The facelifted, 2018 Hyundai Tucson has surfaced in South Korea, where it’s been spotted uncamouflaged. The SUV will soon be launched in India, as a fresher alternative to the best-selling Jeep Compass. The Jeep Compass is the Tucson’s prime competitor in India, and it is outselling the latter many times, thanks to its sharp pricing.

Hyundai assembles the Tucson through the CKD route in India while the Compass is produced here with over 70 % localization, giving the Jeep SUV a significant price advantage. The only way Hyundai can compete with the Jeep is by building the Tucson in India, and pricing it similar to the Compass.

Coming to the changes on the facelifted Tucson, the SUV now gets the cascading grille that’s soon becoming the family face of Hyundai SUVs. Other changes on the front include a new bumper, sharper headlamps with LEDs, and new DRLs. The sides of the SUV remain unchanged save for the new alloy wheel design.

At the rear, a new tailgate, bumper and tail lamps round off the facelifted Tucson’s design. The SUV retains its 5 seat layout but the interiors get a slew of changes including a new instrument cluster, a floating touchscreen infotainment console, a new center console and an electric parking brake.

Other standard features on the new Tucson will include rain-sensing wipers, high-beam assist, wireless device charging and second-row USB charging. The SUV is expected to continue with its existing range of petrol and turbocharged diesel engines, with 6 speed manual and automatic gearboxes. The all wheel drive option is likely to be offered only on the top-spec diesel variant with an automatic gearbox as standard. The petrol engine is the 2 litre, 4 cylinder naturally aspirated unit with 155 PS and 196 Nm while the diesel is also a 2 litre-4 cylinder unit but with turbocharging that pushes outputs to 185 PS and 408 Nm.

Via Motorgraph