Hyundai confirms Tucson Hybrid for Australia

Australia’s best-selling SUV has a target on its back, and this leading brand has a plan to make customers think twice about their next car.

Hyundai will introduce a new Tucson Hybrid in Australia next year, giving car buyers an alternative to the incredibly popular Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Available overseas, the Tucson Hybrid combines a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine with an electric motor to produce 169kW of power while sipping just 6.3L/100km of petrol.

Hyundai will offer the Tucson with hybrid power in 2024.

The brand is gearing up for a big year in 2024 with a squad of green machines including the new Kona Hybrid and Kona Electric compact SUVs, the medium-sized Tucson Hybrid, and Hyundai Ioniq 7 large SUV.

John Kett, chief operating officer for Hyundai in Australia, says Hyundai is well placed to retake its place in the top three brands on the Australian sales charts.

“When you see the portfolio of electrification that we have announced you can’t help but think we have positioned ourself incredibly strong for the next five years,” he says.

“The proof will be in us constantly launching new vehicles.”

The hybrid Tucson will help Hyundai take on the VW Tiguan and Toyota RAV4.

Hyundai aims for 30 per cent of its cars to be electric by 2030. The brand will have hybrid and electric options in small, medium and large sizes of popular SUVs by the end of next year.

Kett says the new Kona sets out an example of how Hyundai will transition to an electric future, giving customers a choice of turbo or regular internal combustion engine (ICE) power today, plus hybrid and electric options due to arrive before the end of the year.

The new Hyundai Kona has a choice of petrol, turbo, hybrid and electric power.

“When we think about Kona today we can’t help but think about the representation of what Hyundai will look like going forward,” he says.

“Today we have three powertrains, we have some ICE powertrains, certainly a hybrid powertrain and an EV powertrain.

“We think about how that will evolve in terms of the way the Tucson will look next year, so the Tucson would have an ICE, the Tucson will have a hybrid, and electrification in the form of Ioniq 5.

Medium-sized SUVs such as the Tucson represent some of the most popular cars on sale.

“When we think about the large SUV segment … we’ll have a Palisade, we’ll have a Santa Fe with ICE and hybrid, and we’ll have an Ioniq 7.

“It starts to give you a sense for what Hyundai is starting to think about accessibility to mobility in every segment.”

Hyundai introduced a light electric truck named the Mighty this year, and hopes to join Kia by entering the dual-cab ute segment in the medium term.

Kett says the brand can’t reveal much about a new ute.

“We have our hand up for every single product program within Hyundai,” he says.

“When the time is right we’ll share with you everything we can.”