Hyundai Motor launchs `All New Tucson’ in China

Hyundai Motor has launched the "Chinese style All New Tucson" as part of its efforts to overcome its sales slump in recent months in China.

Beijing Hyundai Motor held a ceremony to launch the Chinese style All New Tucson in Chengdu, China on Saturday, and started selling the SUV. The new vehicle is a full-change model of the ix35 (Korean name "Tucson ix"), which the automaker introduced in the Chinese market in 2010.

The Chinese style All New Tucson comes with an air cleaning system in consideration of mounting concern over air pollution in China. The SUV also has floor clearance that has increased by 10 mm than its Korean counterpart by reflecting rough road pavement in the world’s most populous country. The car comes with the downsized gamma 1.6 turbo GDI engine in addition to the nu 2.0 GDI engine. Hyundai aims to sell 150,000 units of the SUV in the country.

The Chinese style All New Tucson is Hyundai Motor’s strategic model, along with Kia Motors’ "K5" mid-size sedan, which will be launched next month. Due to a slowing Chinese economy and local automakers’ strides, Hyundai and Kia have seen their monthly sales declining in China since May last year. According to industry sources, Hyundai Motor saw its Chinese sales fall by 16.6 percent, and Kia saw its sales plunge by 44.7 percent year-on-year in August.

“The All New Tucson will be primarily targeting people who were born after 1980 and high-income earners by banking its refined design and high performance,” a Hyundai Motor source said. “We will also introduce the `All New Santa Fe` in the near future, and thus complete our SUV lineup, encompassing the ix25 (subcompact), the All New Tucson (compact), and the All New Santa Fe (mid-size).”