Superior, Michigan - Hyundai has bragged that it will soon have the most diverse ‘crossover utility vehicle’ line-up in the business.
That claim was made at a press conference at its US technical centre on Wednesday, where the company announced that it would launch eight "new or re-engineered" crossovers in the United States by the year 2020.
Many of these will no doubt be global models and although it’s too early to say which of these might become available in South Africa, it’s almost certain that some would be considered for our market, particularly the smaller models.
Among these newcomers is an entry-level ‘A-Segment’ crossover, which could go head-to-head with the Suzuki Ignis.
The new baby CUV could be based on the next-generation Hyundai i10, but with funkier styling inspired by the new Kona, which incidentally is not likely to come to South Africa as it would be expensive and would probably clash with the Indian-built Creta.
Also said to be on the cards is a facelifted Tucson and a redesigned Santa Fe, while the fresh CUV line-up will be topped by a new eight-seater, ultimately giving the Korean carmaker a presence in practically every corner of the crossover/SUV market.
On top of that, Hyundai is set to create a new crossover-based bakkie niche in the US with a lifestyle-oriented pick-up inspired by the Santa Cruz concept. The new trucklet is said to be based on the Tucson and could start a whole new trend in the pick-up market. However at this stage it remains to be seen whether it would go global.
Furthermore, Hyundai says it’ll be the only manufacturer to offer CUVs with four different propulsion types: petrol, diesel, electric and hydrogen.
On that note, and as the Hyundai-supplied graphic above illustrates, the company is planning to launch a new fuel cell crossover in 2018.
The new FCEV, which replaces the previous Tucson-based FCEV, has already been revealed in prototype form and can allegedly manage a range of 580km between refuels. It’s not likely to reach our shores any time soon, however, given our lack of hydrogen infrastructure.
