Behind the wheel of Hyundai's new Alcazar seven-seater
There seems to be no stopping the popularity of the SUV and crossover segment, which has grown to 45.5% of South Africa's new-vehicle market, ahead of light commercial vehicles (24.4%) and hatchbacks (22.7%).
Intense competition in the segment, particularly from Chinese- and Indian-made brands, is seeing legacy brands introducing new SUV models with minimal price increases, or even with price cuts, as Hyundai has done with its recently refreshed Tucson and now the new Alcazar.
The Alcazar that touched down in South Africa last week is a facelift of the Grand Creta seven-seat SUV that made its local debut in 2022, but now carries the same moniker used in India, where the car is built.
The entry model in the three-car range, the Alcazar 2.0 Executive auto, has been introduced at R499,900 compared with R566,500 for its predecessor. It is priced close to rivals such as the Haval Jolion Pro, Toyota Corolla Cross, Volkswagen T-Cross and Omoda C5, which are all five-seaters.
The big price cut doesn't mean any omitted features and the Alcazar Executive still comes standard with seven seats, six airbags, stability control, manual aircon, multifunction steering wheel, cruise control, artificial leather upholstery, LED daytime running lights, wireless smartphone charger and park distance control with a reversing camera. It also has a high-resolution dual-screen infotainment system that wirelessly connects to smartphones through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and all three rows have air vents and USB charging ports.
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