Hyundai To Exit Small SUV Segment, Still No Sign Of Ute

When the Hyundai Tucson goes on sale in the third quarter of this year and stocks run out of the ix35 (which the mid-size Tucson effectively replaces), Hyundai Australia will be without a small SUV in its lineup.

And a true small SUV replacement will be "a number of years" away.

With the Chinese-market ix25 not up to Australia's rigorous ANCAP safety standards and the Indian-built i20 Active Crossover also suffering from substandard safety, there is presently no global Hyundai product that could fill the ix35-sized void that will soon appear in Hyundai Australia's range.

"We won’t have a small SUV for a number of years," Hyundai Australia Chief Operating Officer John Elsworth said at the local launch of the i30 Series 2.