Facelifted 2024 Hyundai Tucson revealed with hybrid power

The upgraded 2024 Hyundai Tucson will arrive in Australia in the middle of next year with fresh exterior make-up, an all-new interior and – for the first time – a hybrid powertrain to fight the popular Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Revealed globally today, the facelifted mid-size SUV brings only minor exterior changes including more segmented daytime running lights, a new bolder grille mesh, revised front bumper, fresh alloy wheels and a new rear apron designed to emphasise the Tucson’s width.

However, it’s a different story within the cabin, where the changes are abundantly clear: the existing Tucson’s centre fascia-mounted infotainment system has been binned in favour of the new-generation dual-screen arrangement as per the related Kia Sportage.

The switch has also seen the digital instrument cluster relocated from under the dash-top to in front of it, which not only facilitates the dual-screen set-up but also brings it more into the driver’s line of sight.

A new steering wheel is also present, along with a redesigned HVAC panel, integrated air-vents and a heap more straight lines as the Tucson transitions away from the familiar curved theme and towards a space-liberating horizontal design.

Hyundai is yet to detail any chassis or powertrain tweaks as part of the facelift, but it has confirmed the long-awaited 1.6-litre turbo-petrol/electric hybrid system will be introduced as part of the updated range.

It remains to be seen if Hyundai will be hamstrung by similar availability issues to sister brand Kia, which is limited to offering only front-drive versions of its new Sportage Hybrid, immediately putting it on the back foot against the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER.

Regardless of drive configuration though, the Korean hybrid system out-punches its Japanese rivals with combined outputs of 169kW/350Nm compared to the Toyota’s maximum 160kW and Nissan’s 157kW, however, it can’t compete with the 179kW/510Nm system offered in the GWM-Haval H6 Hybrid in terms of sheer firepower.

A six-speed automatic transmission will be offered on all Tucson hybrids, with European versions consuming between 5.9L/100km (front-drive) and 6.6L/100km (all-wheel drive) on the WLTP cycle.

The current model’s 2.0-litre petrol, turbo-diesel and 1.6-litre turbo-petrol mills are all expected to be carried over unchanged in our market, meaning local customers will have the choice of four different powertrains.

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