Range and price reduced as Hyundai stickers touched-up Tucson

Showcased as far back as November two years ago, Hyundai South Africa has finally revealed pricing for the facelift Tucson in a newly streamlined model line-up.

Range cut

Entering its fifth year of production, the facelift’s range reduction from five to three models sees the removal of the 2.0-litre normally aspirated Executive and Elite grades, as well as the Elite equipped with the turbodiesel engine.

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While the Premium remains the entry-level Tucson, the Executive swaps roles with the Elite by receiving the mentioned diesel engine of the same displacement.

Introduced two years ago as the line-up’s flagship, the all-wheel-drive N Line prevails as the only other derivative carried over from the pre-facelift range.

New outside

As in Europe, the Tucson’s exterior rework comprises a new front bumper and skidplate, a redesigned grille, still housing the Parametric Jewel Hidden Lights, and new daytime running LEDs.

At the rear, the bumper has been restyled and also furnished with a new skidplate, with the final alteration being the relocation of the Hyundai badge from the tailgate to the lower central section of the window.

Unique to N Line is a blacked-out grille and gloss black mirror caps, the N front and rear bumpers, N door sills, a satin silver finish to the skidplates, colour coded wheel arches, dual exhaust outlets, a blacked-out D-pillar, black exterior accents and 19-inch N Line alloy wheels.

Colour shift

On the colour palette, the choice of hues have also been reduced from seven to five with Silky Bronze, Phantom Black, Deep Sea and Crimson Red being dropped.

Carried over are White Cream, Titan Grey and Shimmering Silver, with Ocean Indigo Blue and Ultimate Red being the new additions.

Worth noting is that neither the blue nor silver shades can be selected for the N Line.

Interior reworked

Inside resides the biggest changes with the standard fitting of a new dual 12.3-inch infotainment system and digital instrument cluster across all three models.

Derived from upscale sister brand Genesis, the layout required a complete redesign of the dashboard, including the air vents that now stretch across the entire width of the dash.

Compared to the “old” Tucson, the climate control panel becomes a separate unit located at the lower end of the dash, replete with physical buttons and dials.

Down the centre console, the restyling has been the gear lever move to the steering column, but not on the N Line, which, confusingly, continues with the “old” design as well as the N specific gear lever.

Spec

On the specification front, and bar the pair of displays, the Premium’s new additions consist of 18-inch instead of the previous 17-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery and Blind Spot Monitoring. Gone, however, are the heated front seats.

Carried over are the heated and folding electric mirrors, the wireless smartphone charger, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cruise control and auto on/off LED headlights as well as the following:

• keyless entry;
• rear air-conditioning vents;
• front and rear parking sensors;
• reverse camera;
• six-speaker sound system;
• Electronic Stability Control;
• Hill Start Assist;
• Downhill Brake Control;
• Pre-Collision Avoidance Assist

Moving up, the Executive gets the following as new additions: push-button start, electric, heated and ventilated front seats, and 19-inch alloy wheels.

Combining the items from the pre-facelift model and the discontinued Elite, the Executive’s other standard items consist of:

• electric tailgate;
• roof rails;
• rain sense wipers;
• dual-zone climate control;
• heated steering wheel;
• heated rear seats;
• Safe Exit Assist

Completing the range, the N Line’s first-time inclusion only comes in the shape of a 10-speaker Bose sound system.

Building on the Executive means the N Line’s specification sheet consists of:

• imitation leather and suede upholstery with red stitching;
• panoramic sunroof;
• electric tailgate;
• Adaptive Cruise Control;
• Driver Attention Alert
• Lane Departure Warning;
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert;
• Forward Collision Avoidance Assist;
• Lane Follow Assist

No drivetrain changes

Up front, the mentioned pair of 2.0-litre engines haven’t undergone any changes, meaning outputs of 115kW/192Nm for the Premium, and 137kW/416Nm for the Executive and N Line.

Transmissions again consist of a six-speed automatic on the petrol and an eight-speed on the pair of the diesels, with the N Line being the sole model to once again have all-wheel-drive as standard.

Price

Now available, with the facelift having seen a price reduction of R39 000 on the Premium, the entire Tucson range is covered by a seven-year/200 000 km warranty as well as a revised five-year/75 000 km service plan.

• Tucson 2.0 Premium AT – R559 900
• Tucson 2.0D Executive AT – R709 900
• Tucson 2.0D N Line AWD AT – R859 900

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