[Tgo]

Sitting in a far off land, am I safe to say, this time the Tucson is flying off the shelves. What could be the reasons?
-Cars in general getting expensive making it look within reach?
-Excellent features with good engines, killer styling?
-Its competitors not really known to be reliable.

Does this need a poll?

[GTO]

Multiple reasons for the same, but the most important is this = The product is spot-on . It's a properly premium crossover and as the saying goes in the auto industry, there is no problem that a good car cannot solve. Hyundai is enjoying its success, in spite of the overpricing (which is sadly seen in so many new cars in today's seller's market).

The competition also has glaring deal-breaker points which make it easier for the Tucson. Tiguan (stiff ride, no diesel, boring looks, age), Kodiaq (waiting periods, no diesel, Skoda ownership nonsense, overpricing), Fortuner (too big for many people, bumpy ride, like a truck to drive), C5 Aircross (Citroen who?), Meridian (overpriced, longer Compass), Gloster (too blingy, too big, drives poorly in the city).

In the midst of all this comes a sorted crossover like the Tucson offering an eye-catching funky design, technology (including ADAS), features, Hyundai reliability, great to drive, comfortable suspension, brilliant Diesel AT and a petrol option (which is admittedly the lesser impressive motor as its a boring NA and not a turbo-petrol).

It's my top pick in the segment. Hyundai is one of the rare manufacturers that can build a great 40-lakh car, 20-lakh one (Creta) and a 10 lakh one (Grand i10 or i20). After years, Maruti finally offered us a locally built 20-lakh car (Grand Vitara), but it is quite lacking in terms of quality, powertrain, finesse etc. Skoda builds excellent 40-lakh cars, but their 20-lakh crossovers have a few holes (quality, overpricing, no diesel, unreliable DQ gearbox etc.). Very few manufacturers can offer "best in class" products at completely different price points (homeboys Tata & Mahindra show a lot of promise here).

[DicKy]

IMO, Hyundai is offering the same thing as they offered in the previous gen Tucson. An international quality CKD with engine options between the 20 and 40+ lakhs segments. Only this time the competition has made things easy for Hyundai. Lack of diesel options and ever increasing pricing means the Tucson, especially in diesel form looks almost the default choice. That too when they have priced it 5+ lakhs more than the previous gen. Not to take away the fact that it has become immensely capable due to Hyundai's constant improvements.

[shashankjain16]

It is mainly because Tucson is a jack of all trades and a master of none. And that's what a perfect car is all about.

1. A reliable 40 lakh car - Which car can you name in this price range with the same reliability? Jeep and Skoda can flaunt their brands but unless they sort out their car reliability, they are not going to get numbers in India.

2. Peace of mind after sales service - Hyundai is offering 3 years + unlimited kilometres warranty on this car. Add to it the impeccable Hyundai service network and fuss-free service experience. I would rather pay a premium of 3-4 lakhs when I am spending 40+ lakhs and live a peace with my car, instead of saving and having a constant fear of something breaking down or having a nightmare service experience.

3. Killer Looks - Although a Hyundai may not hold a premium brand value, the car sure looks premium from every angle inside out. A general middle-class person would happily spend their big money while enjoying the head turns on the road of more premium brands.

4. A practical Car - Sorted driving, loaded but practical features, SUV but drives like a sedan, good ground clearance can take you places, AWD to get out of tricky situations, a fantastic diesel. I believe even up to the 60-70 lakh range you will not find features that are in this car. BMW X3 doesn't have ventilated seats, the AC diffuser is a wonder full feature in India's hot climate, etc.

Hyundai Tuscon is a car that your heart doesn't want but your brain does. It's up to people who they listen to, and I guess most listen to their brains when spending big bucks in India.

[reppy]

Originally Posted by GTO

In the midst of all this comes a sorted crossover like the Tucson offering an eye-catching funky design, technology (including ADAS), features, Hyundai reliability, great to drive, comfortable suspension, brilliant Diesel AT and a petrol option (which is admittedly the lesser impressive motor as its a boring NA and not a turbo-petrol).

Extremely satisfied new owner here echoing all the above points! Not to mention, this car is making me question the need for a Mercedes in our garage.

[rajshenoy]

I would pick the Tucson in comparison to other peers (Tiguan, kodiac, compass etc). Those spending 30L on XUV 700 might get tempted to spend a few lakhs more.

Personally I feel they have overpriced it by 2-3 lakhs easily considering some discounts which will come into play, but I won’t surprised if Hyundai decides to hike prices now.

Would I buy one ? I wish they had launched their hybrid version/turbo petrol in place of the boring NA petrol.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Sitting in a far off land, am I safe to say, this time the Tucson is flying off the shelves.

But is it really?

October 2022 - 487 units
October 2021 - 119 units.

3X sales compared to the last year of the outgoing generation (a low base), and still having bookings backlog from the launch blitz. Is this success a matter to be discussed already? Sales numbers are not drastically more (may be restricted by supply for now) than any of the other cars mentioned by others above either.

Fortuner - 2031 units
Compass - 732 units
Tucson - 487 units
Meridian - 404 units
Gloster- 179 units
Tiguan - 83 units
Kodiaq - 55 units

I would wait for a year for the initial backlog to clear and then see where the Tucson settles.

[CoolFire]

The numbers are good, but not indicative of a huge success. The new model was speculated for a long time and the pent up demand is one major contributor. The old model was also sidelined by dealers and even the Company itself with no discounts or enough stock availability.

The biggest threat for Tucson is the facelift Creta with a very similar front looks. Very often we have seen in the Indian context, if a similar looking cheaper model is available, the premium model suffers. People want bang for their buck and quick identification of the fortune being spent on the car is still a requirement for most buyers.

I will wait for the new Creta to come and see where the numbers go after that.

[diwakarmuthu]

Tucson is definitely a good car and it is overpriced. I feel for the new Tucson, we will need to see the numbers after the initial 2 months are done with. Approx 500 cars a month is a good start.

The Hyundai brand is pulling in some of the numbers and non availability of a right alternative in that price bracket is something that Hyundai is capitalizing on.

[sunikkat]

Honestly it’s very early to call Tucson flying off the shelves. Meridian in the initial months did higher numbers than Tucson and still does more or less same numbers. We need to wait and see how the numbers stabilise.

[d.j]

In general, no one reads and understand customer as good as these Korean siblings, I don’t follow them in particular but whenever have come across someone who is aspiring to buy a new car, Hyundai is definitely in top 3 choices for them and with growing affluent population I see them going all good in future as well, plus, had they been a traded company - we definitely would have put some money in them. GTO has said very well - they got something for everyone!

We have 2+1 VWs at home but recently when my brother (he too has a VW) was looking for changing his car, my advice was go for Hyundai, may not be perfect but gives you best of all and a no-nonsense ownership.

Tucson, numbers in specific, too early to make a conclusion out of it.

Regards/DJ

[pms]

Originally Posted by GTO

The competition also has glaring deal-breaker points which make it easier for the Tucson. Tiguan (stiff ride, no diesel, boring looks, age), Kodiaq (waiting periods, no diesel, Skoda ownership nonsense, overpricing), Fortuner (too big for many people, bumpy ride, like a truck to drive), C5 Aircross (Citroen who?), Meridian (overpriced, longer Compass), Gloster (too blingy, too big, drives poorly in the city).

In the midst of all this comes a sorted crossover like the Tucson offering an eye-catching funky design, technology (including ADAS), features, Hyundai reliability, great to drive, comfortable suspension, brilliant Diesel AT and a petrol option (which is admittedly the lesser impressive motor as its a boring NA and not a turbo-petrol).

I have booked the Tucson for exactly the same reasons. Not that the competitors are bad but they just dont come as a complete package for me (or jack of all trades). Of course, the Tucson is overpriced by 3-4 Lacs but when you look at Compass (for the lack of space, slow gearbox), Kodiaq (even pricier & shaky after sales support), Fortuner (too big and not so comfortable for rear seat folks), Tiguan (no TD vehicle, no follow ups, less space/features compared to Tucson) I feel like its justified as more or less all these vehicles fall in the same price bracket, most of them pricier than Tucson as well.

It will be a big challenge for Tucson to break the Compass and Fortuner (more so) sales numbers as they have a cult following. Fortuner lives up to that but the facelift Compass with its issues & niggles am not so sure, this is probably one product that Tucson can target to beat, if it does will be a big feat indeed. Hyundai marketing team will need to up their ante to promote its product actively, if they do that, am sure they will be able to attract many prospective buyers.

[mathewspaul]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

But is it really?

I would wait for a year for the initial backlog to clear and then see where the Tucson settles.

I agree. Seeing the numbers from the competition (especially Meridian), how can someone say this car is a running success? It's clearly too early to jump to such a conclusion. Also, all those people calling this car as a terrific offering, just remember its recent abysmal performance in crash tests.

[padmrajravi]

New Generation Tucson ownership numbers in TeamBHP are definitely higher than the previous generations. I don't think this has anything to do with what Hyundai has done. The car still represents the same segment identity. What has changed is the purchasing power of Indian upper middle class salaried people. Now there is a group of people who want to differentiate themselves from Creta crowd and can't find anything else that is reliable. I attribute this new found success of Tucson to the recent salary hikes for mid level employees like me in the engineering and management field. That crowd is the majority in TeamBHP.

[Hayek]

The Tucson does look really good, and is probably feature rich. Am not sure how it is to drive but looking at the specs, the diesel is probably good while the petrol is mediocre. Which would be a deal breaker for me. With my predominately urban use, a BS6 diesel with the risk of DPF getting clogged makes no sense whatsoever, even before you consider the risk of lawless action by governments and other regulators as we have seen in Delhi over the past week. But I get it that a disproportionate number of Indians are still obsessed with “diesel economy” and would pick diesels any day.

But I don’t think the Tucson is really flying off the shelves - the fact is that supply of the Kodiaq is constrained, and the Meridian did more or less as well immediately after launch. Let’s see how this pans out in subsequent months.