The Hyundai Tucson was one of our favourite SUVs on the evo India Fleet, which is why we’re delighted to know that the fourth-gen Tucson, which has been on sale globally, is finally coming to India. But will the new Tucson be an equally capable mile-muncher as its predecessor? We will have to get behind the ’wheel to find out, but until then, here’s what we know about the 2022 Hyundai Tucson.
The previous Hyundai Tucson was a very handsome looking SUV which everyone appreciated and in its 2022 avatar, this approach has been traded in for an aggressive design language that looks pretty futuristic. The most prominent example of that is the sci-fi like front grille which replaces the wide chrome airdam that was present before and it has the DRLs concealed within itself. Depending on the variant, the grille will be finished either in silver or dark black chrome. The front bumper is sculpted out aggressively to house the LED projector headlamps and fog lamps. Move to the side and the 2022 Tucson features a prominent shoulder line and you also have massive prominent power bulges over the wheel arches. The car that you see here wears 19-inch alloy wheels with a funky design though it is unlikely that these would be available on the India-spec car in the interest of ride quality. Move to the rear and you will notice the funky looking tail lamps which actually wrap around the tailgate, and the Hyundai logo at the rear has moved up into the rear windshield, rather than being conventionally positioned on the rear tailgate. There’s also the possibility of a sportier N Line variant for the Tucson, though that still seems like a while away.
Step inside and the Tucson gets an interior with a beige colour scheme which would likely make the cabin look very premium and airy. In terms of features, we can expect the Tucson to be packed to the brim with kit like a typical Hyundai. There’s a 10.25-inch digital cluster for the driver, similar to the Hyundai Alcazar’s and the dashboard of the Tucson also gets AC vents along the breadth of it, which seems really nifty and useful, particularly in this heatwave. The Tucson also gets heated and cooled front seats, mood lighting. We can also expect a bevy of safety features on the 2022 Tucson, such as the blind spot rear view monitor which is extremely useful in Indian conditions.
Globally, the Tucson is powered by a 2-litre nat-asp petrol and a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine, but it is likely that we will get the 2-litre diesel engine mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. In its global spec, this engine makes 183bhp of power and 417Nm of torque, both of which have marginally increased over the earlier Tucson. It is likely that Hyundai will offer the Tucson in both the FWD and AWD guises with driving modes on offer. Hyundai claims a 0-100kmph time of 9.2 seconds for the FWD Tucson, with the AWD being 0.2 seconds slower to the 100kmph mark. The claimed top speed for the Tucson is 201kmph, though that figure is purely academic given our speed limits and the fact that few Tucson owners are going to max-out their SUVs.
The Hyundai Tucson will rival the likes of SUVs like the Jeep Compass, the Citroen C5 Aircross, the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Skoda Kodiaq. With the Tucson coming to India via the CKD route, we’re curious to see how Hyundai will price the Tucson when it is launched on our shores in the second half of 2022, but that said, this promises to be an SUV that the competition will surely have to watch out for.