Hyundai to produce new Tucson in U.S. plant next year

Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will produce the all-new Tucson sport utility vehicle (SUV) in its U.S. plant to meet local demand for SUV models.

Hyundai Motor plans to produce the 2022 Tucson gasoline and gasoline hybrid models in the Alabama plant next year for the sale of the compact SUV in the U.S. market starting early next year, the company said in a statement.

The Tucson with a gasoline and gasoline hybrid engine will also be manufactured in Hyundai's main Ulsan plant in Korea. The 2022 Tucson plug-in hybrid model will be assembled in Korea and shipped to the United States for local sales, it said.

"Our new Tucson represents the future of Hyundai's full-spectrum eco-powertrain approach, offering internal combustion, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models in a high-volume compact SUV," Thomas Schemera, executive vice president in charge of the product division at Hyundai Motor Group, said in the statement.

Hyundai plans to launch 12 SUV models, including the Tucson, Santa Fe, Kona and Santa Cruz, with combustion engines or environment-friendly ones, in the world's most important automobile market in the next 15 months.

The upcoming SUV models include the Tucson N Line model, which was unveiled in the United States on Tuesday.

The N Line models sit between Hyundai's high-performance N brand and the general Hyundai brand. The N models bring full performance capability to daily driving, while the N Line brings performance-inspired elements to base model vehicles.

Hyundai currently sells the Veloster N, i30 N and i30 Fastback N, as well as the Avante N Line and the Kona N Line in select markets.

Yonhap