The independent South American association Latin NCAP has tested the compact crossover Hyundai Tucson : it received zero stars out of five. We are talking about a car of the previous, fourth generation (TL) – such a car is still being sold in Latin America, while in Russia, since the summer of 2021, a fifth generation model (NX4) has been presented .
Recall that the Latin NCAP protocol implies three types of passive safety tests:
- side impact by a trolley imitating another passenger car (speed – 50 km / h, width of the deformable module – 1500 mm);
- side impact on a pole at a speed of 29 km / h.
The reason for the failure of the Korean crossover is its reduction in price for the South American market. In the basic version, there are two front airbags and there is no electronic stabilization system. There is no question of any intelligent assistants like automatic braking in front of pedestrians or cars.
In general, the Tucson performed well in terms of passive safety during a frontal impact. The main disadvantage was the lack of side airbags.
Latin NCAP stated that it offered the Korean automaker to test the modern Hyundai Tucson NX4 before entering the Latin American market, but the latter refused. The association noted another deplorable signal related to the delay of spare parts for the car. Since 2020, Latin NCAP first tests cars for passive safety when colliding with pedestrians. After that, the “front end” of the vehicle is repaired using original parts, and only then a full-fledged crash test is carried out.
In the case of Tucson, the manufacturer delivered the necessary parts for seven (!) Months. The experts considered that such a delay may be due to one of the following reasons: either the company has big problems with logistics, or it deliberately delayed delivery in order to delay the failed testing.
Note that in the Euro NCAP rating, the Hyundai Tucson crossover earned five stars both in the TL generation (tested in 2015) and in the NX4 (in 2021).
Hyundai Tucson:
Integrated safety: 0 out of 5 stars
Front rider safety: 51%
Child-passenger safety: 4%
Pedestrian safety: 50%
Preventive safety: 7%