Hyundai Tucson ADAS tech likely to come to Creta facelift, next-gen Verna
The Tucson, Hyundai's recently released premium SUV, was the first vehicle in the Korean manufacturer's India model lineup to include ADAS technologies. But according to a business source, the sensor-based active safety measures won't simply be a debut to give the executive SUV some wow factor and distinctiveness; rather, they'll soon become a standard feature of mid- to top-end Hyundai cars in India.
New Verna, Creta facelift likely to get it too
Ioniq 5 next Hyundai to get ADAS features
It will likely come in the topmost variant only
launch delay Hyundai Tucson India largely because of ADAS
What a lot of people might not be aware of is that ADAS was always going to be a key selling point for Tucson in India. According to the initial timeline, the Hyundai Tucson India debut would have taken place in 2020 or 2021, however, the pandemic and the ADAS calibration caused it to be postponed until August 2022.
The ADAS package needed to be recalibrated to fit Indian circumstances because these are safety systems, and the system couldn't just be transferred from another market intact. Before a product is introduced to the Indian market, comfort or feel-good qualities can frequently be taken from a global model with little additional testing or optimization, but not always.
The calibration has an impact on a number of factors, including the sensitivity of the sensors, the viewing angles and distances of the cameras, the time until the car informs the driver or takes action, and the amount of input required from the driver. These all have to be modified for our erratic traffic circumstances, which can take many months to complete. For it, Hyundai had to bring in international engineers and R&D staff, and in the middle of the project, pandemic travel restrictions were implemented, which put everything on hold. As a result, it took approximately two years to complete the calibration sign-off.
Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, forward collision avoidance, driver attention monitoring, and rear cross-traffic aid are among the ADAS technologies included in the 2022 Hyundai Tucson.
Creta facelift, Hyundai Ioniq 5, new Verna next in line for ADAS
The system may now be "connected into" other models much simpler and with little change now that it has been calibrated. Due to the time and money invested on the calibration, it is in Hyundai's best interest to utilize it in as many vehicles as possible to recoup the cost, and the company plans to do just that.
The flagship Ioniq 5 electric crossover will be built domestically from semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits as the first vehicle. The India-specific EV will be unveiled by the end of the year, and it will probably debut at the Auto Expo in early 2023. Although this is a high-end niche model, the following five vehicles are far more alluring options.
Another source revealed that testing of the midsize car in India has already begun for the new Hyundai Verna, which will also receive ADAS. Although it hasn't been announced, we anticipate its release somewhere in the middle of 2023. According to Hyundai sources, it will give even more recent competitors like the Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia a considerably tougher battle.
The Hyundai Creta facelift, which will receive a significant aesthetic makeover to bring it closer to vehicles like the Tucson, is also most likely to debut in 2023. The addition of ADAS would be another plus for the already well-equipped midsize SUV that now rules its market in India, and of course, this feature upgrade will undoubtedly be carried on to its seven-seat variant as well.
Hyundai could democratize ADAS in India
The argument is that ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) features are useless in a market like India since the sensors can't function correctly due to the country's diverse and challenging road conditions. However, Hyundai is sure that it can function in our environment and play a significant role in reducing accidents after it has been correctly calibrated.
Additionally, there are numerous situations where ADAS might be useful now due to improvements in road infrastructure across the nation in recent years. According to our insider, Hyundai looked at deploying the technology in India years before the new Tucson but decided the infrastructure wasn't ready.
As with ventilated seats, sunroofs, and small-capacity turbo-petrol engines, Hyundai may not be the first manufacturer to bring ADAS to the Indian market or even provide it at the most competitive price, but it may be the brand that democratizes and popularizes it among Indian consumers. Since Hyundai claims that most customers choose the top-spec models of all its vehicles, mostly for the high-end amenities they provide, perhaps ADAS will soon become a feature that customers begin to anticipate if it is introduced in enough models and economies of scale are realized.