Source: Hyundai Veracruz to be replaced by long-wheelbase Santa Fe

Chris Paukert — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:40:00 EST

Hyundai Veracruz - Click above for high-res image gallery

While the Hyundai Veracruz is a perfectly competent vehicle, the upscale three-row crossover hasn't been selling particularly well, making it stick out like the proverbial sore thumb on the Korean automaker's otherwise white-hot sales charts. What to do? Well, Autoblog has learned that while the CUV will soldier on largely unchanged for another couple of years, it is almost certain to be replaced by a long-wheelbase version of Hyundai's popular Santa Fe.

The move is unusual for a crossover but not without precedent. In other markets, Nissan has added a stretched version of its well-liked, hard-to-pronounce Qashqai known as the Qashqai+2. Of course, other automakers have also offered extended-wheelbase models of their body-on-frame SUVs (think: Cadillac Escalade ESV) for many years.

At this time, it's not clear how much the next-generation model will be stretched to accommodate the third row, or what name the longer model will take, but it will almost certainly maintain the Santa Fe descriptor and styling in order to build nameplate equity and control costs. Oddly, the Santa Fe was itself offered with three rows up until it received a modest refresh for model year 2010, but that option was dropped due to a very low take rate. Presumably, buyers are looking for more space for third-row occupants, and a longer passenger cell will have buyers considering a next-generation three-row Santa Fe anew.

In other Santa Fe news, the CUV figures to be a prime candidate for the new lithium-polymer hybrid drivetrain that Hyundai has developed for the 2011 Sonata. While our sources won't confirm that the model will go gas-electric, they do admit that the company is keen to spread out development costs through added scale and they also acknowledge that the CUV's size would make packaging an easy and natural fit.

Gallery: 2007 Hyundai Veracruz

Source: Hyundai Veracruz to be replaced by long-wheelbase Santa Fe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Hyundai Tucson makes the drive to America

Sam Abuelsamid — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Crossover, Hyundai

2010 Hyundai Tucson - Click above for high-res image gallery

Hyundai's second big unveiling for the LA Auto Show is its next-generation Tucson, its compact crossover. Like the Sonata sedan, we've actually already seen the Tucson for some time now, as it previously debuted South Korea and Europe badged as the ix35 or Tucson ix. We actually first saw this shape as the ix-onic concept at Geneva last March and the production model is only mildly toned down.

Even toned down, though, this is a major departure from the outgoing Tucson. Like the Sonata, that model was a competent but utterly invisible CUV. The new Tucson was created by Hyundai's Frankfurt-based European design studio and features the same "Fluidic Sculpture" surface language used on the Sonata. Like the sedan, the look is attractive, if not entirely original, as the form seems to draw quite a bit inspiration from the Nissan Murano, especially in the rear. Either way, with its bulging fenders and a multitude of curves and creases, the new style is likely to draw a lot more second glances than its predecessor. Wherever the ideas came from, the Tucson appears to be well-executed overall. Follow the jump to learn more Hyundai's latest CUV.

Gallery: 2010 Hyundai Tucson

[Source: Hyundai]

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2010 Hyundai Tucson makes the drive to America originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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