The bold bold new Hyundai Tuscon is here

The 2021 Hyundai Tuscon has been fully unveiled, following on from the teaser shots released last week.

Not that there was much that those teaser images didn't already tell us about the design. The very distinctive daytime running lights, or as Hyundai calls them, ‘Parametric Hidden Lights’, incorporated into the grille are present and correct.

The increased lighting of these full-reveal images does give us a better view of the cars side-profile, which borrows quite heavily from the Audi Q8 and Lamborghini Urus of this world. With the latter's angular wheel arches essentially copy and pasted on to the Hyundai.

What Hyundai has grabbed from the Audi design bin, is the use of creases, with this baby-SUV looking like a college student's shirt. Some may call it design, others, forward thinking, incorporating for new, the inevitable dents that this car will pick up in the shopping centre car-park.

Someone fetch the iron

The teaser images we were given last week also hinted at this Tuscon possibly being an EV, as there was no sign of any tail-pipes. Unfortunately however, this is not the case, with Hyundai confirming a range of petrol and diesel engines.

There will be PHEV options however, so the eco-friendly (or tax conscious) buyer is not completely left out.

At launch, there will be two non-hybridised options, a 148bhp petrol and a diesel with 113bhp, which might just be powerful enough for it to get out of it's own way. Both of these will be mated to a six-speed manual.

The mild-hybrid options, running a 48V set-up, are offered in 148bhp or 178bhp petrol guise and 134bhp if you want an oil burner. These are offered with the six-speed manual or a seven-speed auto.

Sitting atop the initial range, will be a hybrid model, with a healthy 227bhp power output, thanks to a combo of 1.6 litre turbo-petrol and electric motor. The full-fat PHEV won't be made available until 2021.

Most Tuscon's will be front-wheel drive, but there will be four-wheel drive options available too, which will incorporate three selectable drive-modes for differing conditions, should you want to go off-road, which absolutely no one who buys a Tuscon will do.

Higher spec models will also have adaptive dampers, where the modes available will be ECO, Comfort and Sport.

Inside the Tuscon, the interior is quite smart. A minimalist design, with the obligatory raft of digital displays and touchscreens. Introduced in this Tuscon, Hyundai brings ‘Multi-Air Mode Technology’, which combines the direct and indirect air vents to reduce the space they take up and enable a gentler air flow.

The Tuscon will have all the latest must have tech, wireless charging, smartphone connectivity etc etc.

Hyundai design chief, Eduardo Ramirez, said of the new Tuscon, “We’re experimental, always trying to find a very distinctive character in design. Although that doesn’t mean we’ll apply the same formula to every car.”

“It’s always a big challenge to replace a car that’s been so successful. We’re so proud of Tucson, but we didn’t want to fall into the trap of trying to retain what we had achieved and not go further. We felt free to innovate, which is how ideas like the hidden lights came to life.” he continued.

Expect to see the new Tuscon everywhere this Winter when the model goes on sale in October.