[adimicra]

So, the trend of oversized and underpowered cars continue... The previous generation of Creta came with more powerful engines and now with the increase of size/weight/capacity, the horsepower has gone down. A 7 seater with 1.5 engines is an absolute shame. Even in Creta, those engines are just about adequate and it is given that the performance of the Alcazar will be pretty pathetic. I will be surprised if the car does not struggle a lot when fully loaded.

I am not sure if there is a market for this car. Is Hyundai planning on some killer pricing? I wonder what will be the USP of this car. It might cannibalize the sales of Creta a bit but the overall sales of both cars combined might not exceed the Creta sales by much.

[LPJ777]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Hyundai Alcazar: technology and safety tech

Source

The rear looks like a straight copy of the Kia Sorento.

[SourPai]

Originally Posted by SolidusSnake

It's a compulsion for Hyundai not a deliberate choice as 1.6 ltr engine would be subject to 50% GST + cess as opposed to 45% for 1.5 ltr engine. That's the reason why Hyundai has changed all 1.6 ltr engines to 1.5 ltr in Creta, Verna to save on 5% tax.

It is a valid point, but not sure if it is a compulsion. There are many products available such as Hector, Harrier etc. who use higher capacity engines and are in higher duty brackets

Sure it will increase product prices somewhat, but if they are able to position the product well, despite duty hikes and price hikes, people will buy and it will sell. This product can be positioned as premium product over Creta, and there is ample space as Tucson is a lot ahead on pricing.

Again, I am talking from enthusiast perspective and just wish to have better engines. Although plonking same engines is probably easier for Hyundai and will also attract volumes due to marginal price increase

[5kmiles]

Very interesting indeed to call this contraption a competitor of Safari and Xuv500, which are designed and developed grounds up as SUVs or SUV/MPV crossover. It is actually a competitor of something like Ertiga. Based on a pseudo SUV which is in turn built on a hatch platform. No offense to the Creta owners and lovers. It is just the plain simple fact. Makes me believe in the power of marketing. Of course, creta has its own super strengths. Being an SUV is not one of those.

Looking at their pricing history, not a penny of tax saved will be passed onto consumers. Taxes will be saved for bottomline impact as buyers of this won't worry about the engine or chassis. They will worry about other factors like comfort features which will be offered aplenty. Yeah, safety will be 3* only as well. Take your pick.

[Sebring]

Is this an accurate picture? The 'retro' rear (very American, at it) isn't going with the futuristic front at all. One more design fail by Hyundai. Their designs have been largely a miss of late.

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Hyundai Alcazar: technology and safety tech

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by 5kmiles

Very interesting indeed to call this contraption a competitor of Safari and Xuv500, which are designed and developed grounds up as SUVs or SUV/MPV crossover. It is actually a competitor of something like Ertiga. Based on a pseudo SUV which is in turn built on a hatch platform. No offense to the Creta owners and lovers. It is just the plain simple fact. Makes me believe in the power of marketing. Of course, creta has its own super strengths. Being an SUV is not one of those.

Looking at their pricing history, not a penny of tax saved will be passed onto consumers. Taxes will be saved for bottomline impact as buyers of this won't worry about the engine or chassis. They will worry about other factors like comfort features which will be offered aplenty. Yeah, safety will be 3* only as well. Take your pick.

Well, we will see what the data shows, considering that currently neither the Safari nor the Indian version of the XUV5oo have been tested by GNCAP. Also, function is sometimes more important than form for a customer. If the customer gets more or less the same 7 seater experience with adequate ground clearance in an Alcazar, with the same or better features for a competitive price, would you blame the customer for buying that car?

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Is this an accurate picture? The 'retro' rear (very American, at it) isn't going with the futuristic front at all. One more design fail by Hyundai. Their designs have been largely a miss of late.

Not at all. That rear end is from a Kia Sorrento. From what I can tell, The render is a mashup of different Kia and Hyundai cars

[5kmiles]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Well, we will see what the data shows, considering that currently neither the Safari nor the Indian version of the XUV5oo have been tested by GNCAP. Also, function is sometimes more important than form for a customer. If the customer gets more or less the same 7 seater experience with adequate ground clearance in an Alcazar, with the same or better features for a competitive price, would you blame the customer for buying that car?

Absolutely agree with the strengths that Creta has and Alcazar will inherit those and maybe some more. This will make it a great fit for many families. However, saying that it will compete with everything that has seven seats this side of 25L is plain wrong. That's the ploy to price it near Safari etc. Of course, the manufacturer and media will peddle their lies. Folks in this forum know better.

On safety, Hyundai has been cutting corners. A habit duly and promptly picked by Kia. Nothing other than cheating Indian consumers by doing cost cutting on safety aspects explains why a newly launched Seltos worth nearly 18L gets a 3 star. Very shameful, IMO. I have no doubt that Safari will be high scoring 5 star and not just 5 star. Tiago is 4 star.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by 5kmiles

Absolutely agree with the strengths that Creta has and Alcazar will inherit those and maybe some more. This will make it a great fit for many families. However, saying that it will compete with everything that has seven seats this side of 25L is plain wrong. That's the ploy to price it near Safari etc. Of course, the manufacturer and media will peddle their lies. Folks in this forum know better.

Unfortunately, we cant really be the judge of how companies see their market positioning and competitiveness. In my opinion, not providing a 4WD for a Safari itself is a huge problem of price/positioning, especially when you are trying to perpetuate the legacy of the brand and the fact is that a competitor provides it in a car that is 6-7 lacs cheaper, albeit sparse in terms of comfort.

[Venkatesh]

Hyundai has released the design sketches of Alcazar. Gets 3 rows of seats with 6-seater and 7-seater options. Global debut soon







Link

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Hyundai has released the design sketches of Alcazar. Gets 3 rows of seats with 6-seater and 7-seater options.

Link

In my mind, the main feature of Alcazar over Creta is less ugly tail lamps No offence to the current owners, but I just can’t gobble the design. The fro t end is odd, the rear absolutely ghastly!

Due to the compact size of the Alcazar - the last seats are best left for very young kids. What percentage of customers have families with more than 4-5 members? - I am sure most companies have done market sizing exercise though!

[DonHyd]

Exterior design is good. Looks proportional and better than creta. But interior space seems tight.

[CEF_Beasts]

Some more design sketches;

[ArTigor]

Love the way they have integrated the rear extra portion for the Third Row. IMHO looks more cohesive and a better attempt than what Tata did with Harrier to make a Safari(front and rear profiles in the Safari just dont get along good). Dont know about segments, yet Alcazar will give tough time to some 7 seaters currently in market.
Based on the highly successful Creta, I dont see any other reason than Messed up Pricing(if Hyundai gets greedy) which may be a downside.

Design wise I see a lot of similarities here with some established models, i.e. side profile upper half of the car looks inspired from Fortuner, the lower half is somewhat on lines of Harrier and the Rear save for the tail lamps looks Jeep Compass like. Even the tail lamp profile reminds me of the Hexa tail lamp. But overall the outcome looks nice, lets wait to see how it comes out in flesh.
7 seaters is an unmarked territory for Hyundai in India, Alcazar might just change this for Hyundai.

[VKumar]

Doesn't this section look like a direct cut paste job from Hexa? IF so, I will be happy. Hexa has a very balanced and beautiful looking rear after all.

The tail lamp cluster, point where the chrome garnish amalgamates into it, and even the design language itself, it directly reminded me of Hexa.

The area behind the C pillar, I mean the C glass, it again has the creases which looks like the section has taken a lot of inspiration from the Fortuner. The side profile looks very well balanced and absolutely stunning to me. With all this implemented, only the front end will be the part with polarizing opinion, all other quirky elements are well taken care of.


Overall: I liked it. A very thoughtful and impressive implementation IMO. I won't be surprised if this one manages to cannibalize a lot of Creta and Seltos sales too. In fact, personally speaking, if this one comes for a lac or even 1.5 lac over the Creta, I don't see a reason for anyone to look at the Creta and not the Alcazar then.

I am sure that, with this shape and the type of cabin in the pics, people are going to queue up outside the Hyundai dealerships to get one each for themselves.