Hyundai Wants to Make the Tucson Hot

When you think of hot cars, Hyundai is one of the last brands likely to cross your mind. Sure, there’s the upcoming Veloster N that should help change that somewhat. But for the Korean automaker that’s simply not enough. The newest plan is to make a hot version of the Tucson.

Don’t laugh: fast crossovers are a growing market segment. Ford has ST versions of the Edge and Explorer on the market or in the works, and a growing list of competitors are rising up to meet them. While the Tucson is small, don’t think for a second people don’t want a go-quick version. After all, shoppers seemingly can’t get enough of crossovers, so it’s only logical that’s the new performance frontier.

Supposedly, we’ll see a Hyundai Tucson N by the 2022 model year. Well, at least Europe will see such a thing, because it’s not certain if such a vehicle will reach the U.S. Hyundai would miss a huge opportunity if it cut Americans out of a chance to haul groceries at breakneck speeds.

Rumor has it the Tucson N will pack a mighty 340 horsepower and do 0-62 mph in under six seconds. While that doesn’t make it monstrous, you also wouldn’t be paying monstrous prices for such a machine.

This move could help highlight to shoppers that Hyundai has some crossovers. With suffering sales because of a car-heavy model lineup, Hyundai needs to show people it has what they want.

Source: Auto Express