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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
This is Hyundai's all-new second generation Tucson that will be officially revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. As we've already told you, Hyundai's new compact crossover has been renamed to ix35 for the European market and Tucson ix for South Korea. We're still not sure what the North American market model will be called, but U.S. buyers should expect to see the Tucson's replacement making its first public outing at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
The new ix35 carries over much of the 'swoopy' styling of the 2009 Geneva Salon ix-onic concept study and overall, it's a step forward in terms of design from the current generation model. The Korean automaker said that the design cues seen on ix35 including the pronounced hexagonal grille and the dramatic front-end styling will used on future Hyundai models.
Even though Hyundai only published a single image of the ix35 (above), we found a complete gallery of the Korean-spec model that you can check out below. The cosmetic differences between the two models are limited to the body trim, the shape of the front fog lights and housings, the headlamp crystals and the absence of turning signals on the exterior mirrors on the ix35 (they'll make their way on the 2013MY facelift model...).
Although no details were released on the powertrain options for the ix35 that will be built at sister company Kia's Zilina plant in Slovakia, Hyundai said that the new model will deliver "markedly better" fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions than rival SUVs and compete head on in terms of running costs with mainstream hatchbacks.
At launch, the KDM Tucson ix will be available with a choice of a 2.0-liter diesel or gasoline engines producing 184 horsepower and 166 horsepower respectively. Buyers will be able to opt between six-speed manual and automatic transmissions as well as front-wheel and all-wheel drive versions.
It is expected that the European-spec model will at some point be offered with a new 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine producing around 170 horsepower.
More detailed information about the ix35 will be released at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
