KATHMANDU: Hyundai will announce pricing for its upcoming Alcazar SUV on June 18, 2021, according to our sources. The Alcazar was earlier slated to see a market launch back in April but was delayed due to COVID-19 related restrictions in most Indian states. Hyundai has also officially started accepting bookings for the Alcazar, with the booking amount set at Rs 25,000.
Hyundai Alcazar: variants and equipment details
Sources tell us that the Alcazar will be sold in six variants – Prestige, Prestige (O), Platinum, Platinum (O), Signature and Signature (O). All the ‘O’ variants will come with an automatic gearbox, while the standard trims will feature manual gearboxes. The Alcazar will also be available in six exterior paint shade – Taiga Brown, Typhoon Silver, Polar White, Titan Grey, Phantom Black and Starry Night – of which two colours (white and grey) will be offered in a dual-tone scheme.
The top-spec Alcazar will be offered with a long list of features, including a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, Hyundai’s connected car tech, a lane change camera (visible in the instrument cluster when you use the indicator), a 360-degree camera, a panoramic sunroof, ISOFIX child seats mounts, wireless phone charging, automatic climate control and much more.
As already mentioned, the Alcazar will get an added row of seats, with either a 6-seat (with captain’s chairs in the second row) or 7-seat (with bench seating in the second row) configuration. The interior will also be offered in a black and brown dual-tone colour scheme, and the version with captain’s chairs gets a unique floor-mounted central armrest with cupholders and extra storage space.
Hyundai Alcazar: exterior design details
The Alcazar sports a longer wheelbase – 2,760mm (150mm more than the Creta) – in order to accommodate the extra row of seats. On the outside, it gets subtle styling tweaks to help differentiate it from the Creta. These include a tweaked grille, an updated front bumper, a prominent rear quarter glass, new wraparound tail-lights, a slightly more upright tailgate, faux dual exhaust tips and a larger set of 18-inch alloy wheels (compared to the Creta’s 17-inchers).
2021 Hyundai Alcazar: engine and powertrain options
The petrol engine on the Alcazar is an updated and more powerful version of the Elantra and Tucson’s 2.0-litre, four-cylinder unit, making 159hp and 192Nm. Hyundai says the Alcazar 2.0 petrol will do a 0-100kph sprint in 9.5 seconds seconds. The diesel engine will be the same 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged unit from the Creta that produces 115hp and 250Nm, though it has been tuned differently. Both engines will come with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox. You can read our review of the Hyundai Alcazar prototype to see what it is like to drive.
In terms of fuel efficiency, the petrol manual returns 14.5kpl while the automatic version returns 14.2kpl. The diesel engine is even more frugal, as with the manual gearbox it returns 20.4kpl and with the automatic, it returns 18.1kpl. Hyundai claims, this makes the Alcazar the most fuel-efficient SUV in the segment.
2021 Hyundai Alcazar: rivals in India
The Hyundai Alcazar will compete with the likes of the MG Hector Plus, Tata Safari and the Mahindra XUV500. The segment is set to get more competitive later this year, once the new Mahindra XUV700 is launched in our market.