Hyundai Tucson next generation spied for the first time

Today we want to share with you the first spy photos of the next generation Hyundai Tucson SUV, which appears to be in the last stages of development. The first pictures were taken in South Korea. To the best of our knowledge, a new generation Tucson will be built in the US, scheduled for 2020MY.

What do we know so far?

According to the report, Hyundai Motor and its subsidiaries are in the process of upgrading lines and supply lines of the Alabama plant as the company decided to release a new generation of Hyundai Tucson (codenamed NX4) in 2020. Tucson will also expand its line into pickup trucks and will offer a pickup derivative from 2021.

More than 60 percent of sales in the US auto market have chosen the SUV, so they will build the Tucson at their plant in Alabama, with Elantra and Sonata sales expected to decline. Currently, the plant in Alabama produces only three models - Santa Fe, Sonata and Elantra (Korean name: Avante).

Detail of the front taillights, despite the high level of camouflage, we can see headlights similar in design to the Santa Fe or Kona.

Hyundai has already mentioned the possibility of a midsize pickup several times. They eventually decided to build a pickup truck based on the new generation Tucson (NX4), which would be available for the next generation Tucson & Sportage with a longer wheelbase and would be able to get a pickup right from the start.

The pickup is named Santa Cruz to give it a taller image (directly from Santa Fe). In size, this new pickup will compete with the Chevrolet Colorado or Toyota Tacoma.

The next generation Tucson will be powered by an all-new 2.5-liter Theta3 engine with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Hyundai plans to use the Theta3 N/A & Turbo 2.5-lite engine as the base engine in the US market.

Hyundai's first pickup truck is slated to launch in the United States in May 2021, with other markets such as South Korea still pending.