Upping the style quotient

The fourth-generation Tucson was launched globally last year and will be assembled in India for a launch in the second half of this year. We got to drive one in the US during the Word Car Awards LA Test drives and were pleasantly surprised

- Yogendra Pratap

Although the Tucson is Hyundai's bestselling SUV globally with more than 7 million r units sold worldwide since its launch 16 years back, it has a chequered history in India as the first generation car was launched in the country in 2005 in place of the larger Terracan but was then discontinued. The second-generation Tucson did not make it to India as the previous generation was just phased out in the Indian market and instead, we got the Santa Fe. Thankfully it didn't since the second-gen Tucson was probably one of the worst-looking cars that Hyundai has made in the recent past with a front end that seemed to draw inspiration from the worst aspects of the third and fourth generation Vernas.

The Tuscon made its return to India with the third generation in 2016 and has been a segment leader in that small niche for two-row SUVs that exists between mid-sized SUVs and the larger three-row SUVs. For me, the Tucson has been that ideal sized SUV that is not a compromise between the city cars and the highway cruisers, between the mass-market cars and the premium/luxury ones, and between the budget vehicles and fully equipped premium offerings, because it offers the best of both worlds - an SUV with the bells and whistles to match premium offerings of a segment or two above as well as the price tag that is still reasonable.