Hyundai in Australia is plotting a hybrid takeover, with the brand to offer an electrified powertrain in its most popular SUVs, including a probable hybrid version of the Palisade.
That would give the brand a hybrid answer to just about everything in the Toyota stable, from the Corolla Cross to the RAV4 Hybrid and Kluger Hybrid.
The brand this week confirmed details surrounding the incoming Kona Hybrid and confirmed that its Tucson SUV would soon launch with a hybrid powertrain, but the news didn’t stop there.
The brand has promised that it will have its hand up for every new product line introduced overseas, which would surely include the heavily reported – but as yet unconfirmed – Palisade Hybrid, too.
Reports out of Korea and the USA point to the next-generation Palisade arriving in 2025 packing a 2.5-litre petrol-hybrid powertrain, dropping the petrol V6 in favour of electrified efficiency.
It will likely form a part of Hyundai’s hybrid push, joining the Kona, Tucson and Santa Fe in Australia.
“When we think about Kona today, we can’t help but think about the representation of what Hyundai will look like going forward. Today it has three powertrains, it has an ICE powertrain, has a hybrid powertrain and it has an EV powertrain,” says Hyundai Australia Chief Operating Officer, John Kett.
“We think about how that’s going to evolve into the way that the Tucson would look next year. So the Tucson has an ICE, the Tucson would have a hybrid.
“When we think about the large SUV segment, we’ve never really played in that segment with a full supply chain of Palisade or a full supply chain of Santa Fe. It’s our chance to truly win in that segment. So we’ll have Palisade, we’ll have Santa Fe, we’ll have ICE and hybrid, and we’ll have an Ioniq 7.
“And it starts to give you a sense of what think in terms of accessibility to mobility in every segment. Our dream is that everyone walks with us…zero emission. And if you can’t get there in your first step, let’s let you enter the electrification process by a hybrid. So it’s an incredible opportunity for us.
“We have our hand up for every single product program, and we are a part of every single product program.”
First to arrive will be the Kona Hybrid, in Q4 this year, which will land packing 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that pairs with an electric motor to produce 104kW and 265Nm.
It will be followed in 2025 by the Tucson hybrid, which – internationally – pairs a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with a 44.2kW electric motor for a combined output of 169kW/350Nm and AWD.
Keyword: Target Toyota: Japanese giant on notice as Hyundai vows to go hard on hybrids in Australia