Hyundai Prepares To Bring Some Spice To The Dull CUV Segment – Can The Tucson Stand Out In The Crowd?


Hyundai Prepares To Bring Some Spice To The Dull CUV Segment – Can The Tucson Stand Out In The Crowd?

(By Tom Lohnes) – Having experienced so many compact crossovers, I often get them confused. With over 20 entries in the segment, there are a lot of them and none of them is all that great. One I will not be mistaking though, is the next generation Hyundai Tuscon, which takes a bold new step in a rather boring class and seems to make steps forward ahead of the competition.

Competing with bestsellers such as the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, Honda CR-V, and Mazda CX-5, which are all essentially the same vehicles developed by different companies, it is hard to remember the Hyundai Tuscon in all of this. In fact, when I saw this today, I thought it was a new nameplate. Then I Googled it, and remembered the first-gen model.

Anyway, this next-gen Tuscon carries bold styling over from the Elantra and Sonata sedans translating it very well into a crossover. Sporting a giant grille and Mustang-esque taillights, the Tuscon is a looker. Inside, the Tuscon features Hyundai’s new steering wheel, which will be fitted on every single new vehicle Hyundai reveals, a 3D digital gauge cluster (I don’t understand it either), and a 10.3-inch screen that looks nice and crisp. Powertrains remain the same, with the only exception being a CVT fitted to the base 2.4-liter 4-pot instead of Hyundai’s violent DCT they had before. AWD is available, and so is a differential lock to help in the snow.

Pricing for the new Tuscon comes in at $23,500 base, which is competitive in the segment. I predict the Tuscon will sell very well due to it not being a carbon copy of every other CUV on the market.


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