Hyundai delays Alcazar facelift launch to festive season this year

Following the updated Creta, Hyundai’s next big launch this year will be the Alcazar facelift. The SUV has been spied testing on our roads before, and although we reported its launch is slated for some time in mid-2024, Autocar India now understands that the launch has been delayed by a few months, which means the Alcazar facelift is now expected to arrive by September-October 2024.

Hyundai Alcazar facelift: why is it delayed?

The Alcazar has been a relatively slow-seller for Hyundai, selling about 1,500 units on average each month. That’s a huge way off compared to the Creta, which regularly sells over 10,000 units every month, more so since the facelift arrived in January this year. Before the refreshed midsize launched, Hyundai dealers, in fact, would often push the Alcazar to Creta customers with the incentive of a much lower waiting period. This means that inventory levels of the outgoing Alcazar is currently quite high, and in order to clear existing stock of the outgoing model, Hyundai has delayed the launch of the Alcazar facelift by a few months.

Hyundai Alcazar facelift: what to expect?

The new Alcazar will be updated along the lines of the new Creta. A split headlamp set-up is expected along with an all-new front grille and bumper. The tailgate will also be redesigned with wraparound style, connected tail-lamps, positioned horizontally. The Alcazar carried slight visual differences over the pre-facelift Creta, so it remains to be seen how much the new model is differentiated from the new Creta.

On the inside, expect the new dashboard from the Creta facelift to be carried over to the refreshed Alcazar as well, which means it could get the new connected-screen layout. As before, expect the Alcazar to come in both six- and seven-seat configurations. The most important update to the equipment list will be the addition of the ADAS suite from the updated Creta.

Hyundai Alcazar facelift: no powertrain changes

The Alcazar already gets the 160hp, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and also the 116hp, 1.5-litre diesel engine, and both are expected to carried over as is; their respective manual and automatic gearboxes will also be carried forward unchanged.

Upon launch, the Alcazar will continue to rival the Tata Safari, Mahindra XUV700 and the MG Hector Plus. Expect a marginal bump up in price for all the updates.