Hyundai’s recently unveiled flagship SUV, the Tucson, was the first car in the Korean brand’s India model range to get ADAS features. However, rather than just be a ‘one and done’ introduction to give the executive SUV some wow factor and differentiation, a source in the company has told us that the sensor-based active safety features will soon become a staple of mid- to top-end Hyundai models in India.
- Ioniq 5 next Hyundai to get ADAS features
- New Verna, Creta facelift likely to get it too
- Will likely come in topmost variant only
Hyundai Tucson India launch delay largely because of ADAS
What many may not know is that ADAS was a non-negotiable part of the Tucson launch plan from day one, as an integral halo feature of the SUV for India. The Hyundai Tucson India launch would even have happened, as per the original schedule, sometime in 2020 or 2021, but a combination of the pandemic and the calibration of the ADAS are what delayed it to August 2022.
As these are safety systems, the protocol from Hyundai HQ was to recalibrate the ADAS package to suit Indian conditions and the system couldn't simply be carried over from another market unchanged. Comfort or feel-good features can often be lifted from a global model with little further testing and optimisation before market launch in India, but not safety features.
The calibration affects things like the sensitivity of the sensors, the viewing angles and distances of the cameras, the delay before the car warns the driver or intervenes, and the level of driver input required. All these had to be adjusted for our chaotic road conditions, and this process can take several months. Hyundai had to fly in global engineers and R&D personnel for it, and mid-way through the process, pandemic travel restrictions were introduced that put things on ice. As a result, the final calibration sign-off happened almost two years after it started.
The ADAS features available in the 2022 Hyundai Tucson include lane departure warning, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, forward collision mitigation, driver attention monitoring and rear cross traffic assistance.
Hyundai Ioniq 5, new Verna, Creta facelift next in line for ADAS
The good news is now that the system has been calibrated, it can be ‘plugged into’ other models far easier, with minimal adjustment. The time and investment put into the calibration means it’s in Hyundai’s best interest to use it in as many cars as possible to recoup the cost, and that’s exactly what the brand intends to do.
First up will be the flagship Ioniq 5 electric crossover, which will be locally assembled from semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits. The India-spec EV will be revealed towards the end of the year, with a launch expected in early 2023, likely at the Auto Expo. But while this is a high-end niche model, the next few cars on the list are far more tantalising propositions.
The next-gen Hyundai Verna will get ADAS too, and another source confirmed that India testing for the midsize sedan is already underway. Though not confirmed, we expect it to be launched towards the middle of 2023, and Hyundai insiders are confident it will bring a much stronger fight to even newer rivals like the Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia.
Also likely to be launched sometime in 2023 is the Hyundai Creta facelift, which will get a big visual overhaul to bring it closer to the likes of the Tucson. ADAS will be another feather in the cap of the already well-equipped midsize SUV that dominates its segment in the Indian market, and of course, this feature addition will likely be passed on to its seven-seat counterpart, the Alcazar, further down the line.
Hyundai could democratise ADAS in India
There’s the argument that ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) features are wasted on a market like India, where diverse and adverse road conditions do not permit the sensors to do their job properly. Hyundai, however, is confident that, once calibrated properly, it can work in our conditions and be instrumental in preventing accidents.
Moreover, with road infrastructure having improved in many parts of the country in the last few years, there are now plenty of scenarios where ADAS can be effective. Our source told us that Hyundai evaluated launching the tech in India years before the new Tucson, but felt the infrastructure wasn’t up to par at that time.
Hyundai may not be the first manufacturer to introduce ADAS to the Indian market, nor even at the most affordable price, but much like it did with ventilated seats, sunroofs and small-capacity turbo-petrol engines, it could be the brand that democratises and popularises it with Indian buyers. After all, Hyundai has said most buyers opt for the top-spec versions of all its cars, primarily for the high-end features they offer, so if launched in enough models and economies of scale are achieved, perhaps ADAS too will soon become something buyers start to expect.
Do you think ADAS will become popular if launched in cheaper cars? Tell us in the comments section below.
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