New Hyundai Santa Fe to get bigger and more rugged look, Tucson to grow too – report
The popular Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs will undergo some significant changes in their next generations in order to better compete with competitors, according to a new report.
In a new article by industry journal Automotive News, Hyundai America's CEO, Dave Zuchowski, says the Korean brand will introduce two new small SUVs between 2018 and 2020 while its current medium and large offerings will be revised to further diversify the line-up.
"It's not just adding new vehicles, it's doing a better job of positioning a family of CUVs (crossover utility vehicles)," he said.
"We feel pretty good about what we've got in the pipeline."
Above: The Hyundai Grand Santa Fe sold in North America
Hyundai's 'small SUV', a competitor to the likes of the Mazda CX-3 and Nissan Qashqai (due in Australia in the second half of next year), will be joined by an even smaller sub-compact model later on.
Meanwhile, the US-market Santa Fe Sport (sold here as the Santa Fe) and long-wheelbase Grand Santa Fe (North America's larger and more spacious variant), will grow significantly and be further differentiated - to the point where the LWB model will get a new name.
The Santa Fe/Santa Fe Sport that we are familiar with is set to grow in size and become more rugged, while the long-wheelbase model will become larger again and offer eight seats - in an effort to compete with rivals like the Toyota Kluger and Nissan Pathfinder.
Hyundai hasn't forgotten the mid-size Tucson either, which - although still brand-new in its current form - is also expected to bulk up in its next generation, though the differences won't be as significant.
Above: Hyundai Tucson
These changes will happen over the remainder of the decade, while the company also plans to offer 14 alternate-fuel vehicles by 2020 in the US.
Australia
Speaking to CarAdvice, Guido Schenken, public relations manager for Hyundai Australia, said that few details could be confirmed, though the company will be launching its new small SUV in the second half of 2017.
"It will be a European design, focused on the European market in concept. No other details at this stage," he said.
For now, we'll just have to wait and see.
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