Hyundai SUVs come under the knife

By Martin Pretorius 

With the Creta doing great work on the small SUV sales charts and the Tucson still selling well in the face of strong opponents, Hyundai has introduced some well-considered improvements to these popular models. The refreshed ranges now boast (slightly) new styling, more features, and even better value for money.

 

Creta and Tucson updated

Hyundai’s South African operation is on a roll, with sustained growth in a rather stagnant market, which translates to a tidy increase in total market share. Much of this growth is thanks to the popularity of their Creta entry-level SUV, which had a rather belated arrival on our shores in the first half of 2017. While it hasn’t been with us for all that long, it’s been available overseas since 2014, which is why it makes sense to bring the very latest updates to South Africa so soon after its initial local launch.

Meanwhile, the Tucson has been around for a little longer, which means that it’s time for a mild facelift as well. In addition to this model’s styling revisions and specification enhancements, the Tucson also benefits from a range re-adjustment, dropping the slow-selling variants and replacing them with more variations of the cars customers actually buy.

What’s new?

Both Creta and Tucson benefit from revised styling, mostly around their extremities. New bumpers front and rear, re-styled light clusters, and new alloy wheels make up the most obvious changes, and these revisions result in a fresh-faced appearance for both cars. Most notably, the radiator grilles are more angular, as are the headlights, and the LED Daytime Running Lamps (DRLs) are now located around the front fog lamps. Additional brightwork further accentuates the new grille designs. The Tucson’s rear bumper is also significantly changed, with much less clutter in its lower section, to compliment re-shaped tail lamps with a smoother design. Neither of these vehicles were ever unattractive, but the styling changes certainly add an extra measure of appeal.

Inside, the main differences revolve around the infotainment systems, which feature a new 8-inch colour touchscreen display with optional navigation in the Creta, and a 7-inch unit with optional navigation and standard Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functionality in the Tucson. Both cars have basically unchanged cabins, with the Creta using hard plastics on the dashboard and door cards, and the Tucson make more comprehensive use of softer materials – as is appropriate for their respective market segments.

Creta Range

As before, the Creta is available with two engines (both 1.6-litre 4-cylinder units) in petrol- and diesel flavours. The petrol variants (with 90 kW/150 Nm) offer the choice between manual- or automatic 6-speed gearboxes, while the diesel (with 94 kW/260 Nm) is only available with the self-shifting transmission.

All three derivatives have the same specification level (Executive), with rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, leather seats, a multi-function steering wheel, cruise control, 6 airbags, and a self-dimming interior rear-view mirror included as standard equipment. It’s very well-stocked with nice toys, in fact, which makes the absence of stability control slightly puzzling.

Nonetheless, with pricing ranging between R339 900 and R399 900, the Creta occupies a high-value, well-specced slot between the bargain (smaller and simpler) SUV/Crossovers such as the Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster and the larger, plusher alternatives such as the VW Tiguan and Hyundai’s own Tucson.

Creta Pricing

Creta 1.6 Exec MT:                  R339 900

Creta 1.6 Exec AT:                               R359 900

Creta 1.6 Exec AT Diesel:        R399 900

Tucson Range

The changes are more extensive as far as the Tucson is concerned. The range is completely re-aligned, with the 1.7-litre diesel and the manually-shifted 1.6T petrol variants disappearing due to low demand. In their places are an Executive-spec 2.0 diesel and an intermediate-trim 2.0 petrol, both with automatic transmissions. This reduces the availability of the 1.6T petrol engine to a single variant, paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox, with the only remaining manual transmission Tucson being offered in entry-level Premium trim with the 2.0 petrol engine.

As before, the Tucson comes fairly fully specified, with even the Premium variants featuring the aforementioned touch-screen infotainment, a rear-view camera, cruise control, 6 airbags, and 17-inch alloy wheels. Executive trim adds rear parking sensors, climate control instead of air conditioning, stability control, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, leather seats (with electric adjustment for the driver), and an upgrade to 18-inch alloy wheels. To this, the top-spec Elite adds a panoramic roof, LED headlamps, and push-button start. The 2.0 Elite keeps the 18-inch wheels, but the 2.0 diesel and 1.6T petrol Elite receive 19-inch wheels (which fortunately doesn’t affect the ride quality too much).

The competition in this particular segment is extremely fierce, with stellar offerings such as the VW Tiguan, Toyota RAV4, and Mazda CX-5 all fighting for their share of the spoils. With fairly reasonable pricing and Hyundai’s excellent 7 year/200 000 km drivetrain warranty, the Tucson makes a strong case for itself. Hopefully, these updates will put it back on the radar of customers with an appreciation for good looks, great build quality and value.

Tucson Pricing:

Tucson 2.0 Premium MT:                      R399 900

Tucson 2.0 Premium AT:                      R419 900

Tucson 2.0 Executive AT:                    R459 900

Tucson 2.0 Elite AT:                             R499 900

Tucson R2.0 Executive 8AT2 Diesel:                R529 900

Tucson 1.6 TGDI Elite 7-spd DCT:        R559 900

Tucson R2.0 Elite 8AT2 Diesel:            R569 900