Hyundai mulls its baby SUV future

The future of a new small Hyundai model that will take on the likes of Mazda’s CX-3 and Honda HR-V and anchor the Korean car-maker’s future SUV range is increasingly unclear.

Precipitated jointly by the growth of the B-segment crossover market in regions like Europe and Australia and the changing positioning of up-sized and upmarket new Tucson, the vehicle is rapidly becoming a priority model for Hyundai. Yet the timelines and nature of the new model are as cloudy as ever.

The debut of the ix25 at the 2014 Beijing motor show suggested the way forward for the brand in the segment but both European and Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) sources have poured cold water on the car being sold in “developed markets”.

“It [ix25] was designed and built for markets like China and India. It’s not feasible to quickly re-configure it for sophisticated markets like Europe or Australia,” a senior Hyundai source told motoring.com.au.

“We absolutely want to launch a vehicle into the [sub-compact SUV] segment but at this stage ix25 is not that vehicle,” the source stated.

HMCA spokesperson Bill Thomas confirmed the Australian operation was keen to enter the segment but was coy on putting a timeline on any announcements.

“It’s an important new part of the market and we are watching it closely,” he hedged without specifics.

Motoring.com.au understands HMCA has made detailed representations to head office about a higher-spec ix25 but ran into similar roadblocks as its European counterparts.

Although the door is not totally closed on a reengineered ix25, Europe and therefore arguably Australia is now likely to wait for an all-new model.

Design staff on hand for the Berlin unveiling of the new Tucson this week reinforced this opinion.

Nicola Danza, designer of the new Tucson (and last-generation ix35), told motoring.com.au that a new vehicle would fill the sub-Tucson space.

“No, the ix25 will not [go through a renaming process]… There will be a new car [under Tucson],” he confirmed.

Currently the most likely contender is a vehicle based on i20 architecture. The global model, as yet unnamed but likely to feature a traditional rather than alpha-numeric badge, is believed to be based loosely around the Intrado concept that was shown at the 2014 Geneva motor show.

Meantime, Hyundai sister brand Kia is expected to enter the small SUV ranks next year with a compact crossover based on the 2013 Niro concept.