Hyundai Motor Malaysia Previews 3 Models, More Next Month

Hyundai Motor Malaysia has officially entered the market with 3 models to start.

The time has come for the South Korean automotive brand Hyundai Motor to make its move here. While the company has been operating using a distributor-led model with Sime Darby for years, they are now independent and have a dedicated team to grow their market share here. Much of this was already known and expanded on last week. Today, Hyundai Motor Malaysia had an event to officially introduce themselves to the media and preview some of the first batch of models that they’d be bringing into the market.

Hyundai Motor Malaysia aims to grow its workforce to 100 employees by year-end and will expand its role beyond domestic sales while continuing to work with assembly partner Inokom in Kedah. 7 car models will be introduced into Malaysia in the first 5 years and 30% of these will be exported to neighbouring markets.

“Malaysia is a market full of untapped potential — it boasts the highest passenger vehicle demand in ASEAN at 35%, with a steady GDP growth of 4.3% signalling strong consumer confidence and rising spending power. These are exactly the conditions that drive innovation and long-term investment. By collaborating with local stakeholders, Malaysia stands out as the ideal location to expand our footprint and establish a key hub in Hyundai’s growth strategy in the Asia Pacific region,” said Jahabarnisa Haja Mohideen,
Managing Director, Hyundai Motor Malaysia.

ALL-NEW Hyundai Santa Fe

The 5th generation Santa Fe was shown this morning, though the interior of the vehicle was not revealed and final specifications and pricing will be shown next month. There will be 3 trim levels with 2 powertrains.

The familiar 1.6L turbo four cylinder hybrid petrol powertrain 2WD with 235PS and 367Nm of torque will power the Prime and Prestige models. These models feature a 6-speed automatic. An all-new 2.5L turbo four cylinder with 281PS and 422Nm of torque powers the Calligraphy model.

This model has an 8-speed DCT that sends power to all four wheels. Not much is known about equipment specs but the Santa Fe will feature H-Light LED lamp design, dark chrome-finished radiator grille and a hidden rear wiper.

FACELIFTED Hyundai Tucson

The fourth generation Hyundai Tucson has indeed been available in Malaysia since the end of 2023. Now Hyundai Motor Malaysia is course correcting with the facelifted model, which brings in a number of changes, including a new radiator grille, an integrated rear wiper and emblem, a new steering wheel and more. There will be four variants of this model available – Style, Prime, and Prestige are the trim levels.

The Style model comes in with a 2.0L 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine sending power to the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic. The Prime model uses a 1.6L 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that sends power to the front wheels via a 7-speed dual clutch transmission.

This same powertrain is available in the Prestige trim level with all-wheel drive. If you want a hybrid model, the Prestige HEV pairs the same 1.6L 4-cylinder turbo with the 6-speed automatic in a front-wheel drive setup. Here’s a table to make it easier to understand.

UPDATED Hyundai Staria 7-Seater

The futuristic Hyundai Staria made waves when it was first shown in Malaysia. The 7-seater variant is being updated to keep the momentum up. The key visual change to this model is the brass chrome application, which can be found on the badges, front grille, wing mirror caps, door handles, and lower front bumper trim piece.

The updated Staria also gets exclusive full LED projection headlamps, LED turn signals, LED rear combination lamps.

Inside, the 7-seater Prestige spec has:

• Dual Sunroof
• Premium relaxation seats
• Bose Premium 12-speaker Audio System
• 431L boot capacity

There’s Hyundai SmartSense as well, with some features reserved for specific trim levels:

• Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go (SCC w/ S&G)
  • SCC helps maintain distance from the vehicle ahead and drive at a speed, set by the driver. 
• Lane Following Assist (LFA)
  • A front camera tracks the lane markers and helps keep the vehicle safely centered within the lane.
• Lane Keep Assist (LKA)
  • A front view camera detects lane markers and road edges helping prevent unintentional lane departures. When the vehicle strays from its lane (or road), the system sets off a visual and sound alarm and automatically steer the vehicle to prevent it from moving out of its lane (or road).
• Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA)
  • RCCA warns of the approach of a vehicle across the rearward path when reversing and, if necessary, emergency braking is applied. 
• Surround View Monitor
  • The surround view monitor gives you a 360-degree view of the area to make manoeuvring confined spaces easy and safer.
• Blind-Spot View Monitor
  • When a turn signal is used, the view of that side of your Hyundai is shown in the centre cluster for top visibility and zero blind spots.
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System