Hyundai has released an extended version of a globally popular SUV with a low price and high seat count, that would sit perfectly between the entry-level Venue and strong-selling Kona medium SUV.
Better still, it is closely related to the hot Kia Seltos, and that’s one of the biggest success stories of the past few years across the planet.
So, why are Australians likely to miss out on the Hyundai Alcazar – confusingly also known as either the Creta Grand or Grand Creta depending on where you live in the world – for the time being?
The answer is complicated, but it has to do with what the Alcazar/Grand Creta was designed to do and where it is made.
Unveiled in April, 2021, it is an elongated Creta, a light SUV that is now in its second generation, and aimed at price-sensitive markets like India, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia.
To help keep costs down, the Creta/Alcazar are both inexpensive to assemble, buy and run, and do not always include the levels of safety specification and/or powertrain options deemed essential for Australia.
Furthermore, unlike the Seltos, for example, the Alcazar is not manufactured in South Korea but in India, and that adds a fair chunk of extra shipping and handling expenses importing the SUV to this country.
Factor all these in plus the considerable investment required to meet Australia’s unique design rules versus projected sales volumes in a fiercely competitive market, and it is unlikely that the Alcazar would be a viable proposition in Hyundai’s local line-up – especially as the Santa Fe and its full-sized Palisade seven and eight-seater big brothers continue to do brisk business in Australia.
In fact, prices would likely see the Hyundai butt up against more established medium-sized 5+2 seven-seaters like the Nissan X-Trail, Honda CR-V and Mitsubishi Outlander (meaning from about $35,000), probably putting the final nail in the coffin for the Alcazar/Grand Creta in Australia.
What are Australian SUV buyers missing out on then?
Like the Kia Seltos, the Alcazar/Grand Creta is built on the flexible Hyundai-Kia K2 architecture that also underpins a host of B-segment and C-segment models, including the Kia Rio and Hyundai i30.
Though the regular Creta is a bit bigger than a Mitsubishi ASX, the 200mm-longer Alcazar/Grand Creta’s overall length exceeds that of the Mazda CX-5 in the next segment up, but is narrower in width and track.
It is powered by a variation of the Seltos’ 2.0-litre petrol engine driving the front wheels only via six-speed manual or automatic transmissions, and also offers a 1.5-litre turbo-diesel alternative popular in India.
With a 150mm wheelbase stretch compared to the Creta, the Alcazar/Grand Creta can be specified in either regular seven-seater or luxury six-seater (with middle-row captain’s chairs) guises.
So, while on paper the thought of a Seltos-based Hyundai seven seater sounds like a no-brainer for our market, the reality paints quite a different picture.
Keyword: Want a Kia Seltos with seven seats? The Hyundai version is exactly that but why isn't it in Australian dealerships yet?