Hyundai Palisade being evaluated for India launch

• Hyundai studying the feasibility of launching Palisade in India
• Right-hand-drive model reportedly already in the works for global markets
• If launched, it will be Hyundai’s most-expensive model in India

Ever since it was unveiled at the end of 2018, the Hyundai Palisade has generated a considerable amount of interest among the SUV-loving crowd in India. Primarily targeted at left-hand-drive markets that favour full-size SUVs, the Palisade is the biggest – and most luxurious – SUV from Hyundai till date and the company has now confirmed it is currently evaluating the Palisade for an India launch.

Speaking during the #LiveWithAutocar chat on Instagram, Tarun Garg, Director – Sales, Service and Marketing at Hyundai India, confirmed the carmaker is assessing the feasibility of bringing its flagship SUV to India.

“Hyundai is assessing the feasibility of launching the Palisade in India. We’ll need to see which route we can take with it, if the market is ready and what kind of volumes we’d be looking at. A decision on a model like this is critical because one has to take the import duties into account, and if we choose to localise it, we would need certain volumes,” Garg said.

While Hyundai continues to evaluate the Palisade's prospects in our market, Garg sees potential in the SUV and hopes a steady stream of enquiries will make the decision easier for Hyundai.

“We will take a decision on it at the right time, but I’ve driven the Palisade in Seoul myself and would love for our Indian customers to experience it too. An increase in customer enquiries will expedite our decision-making process, and on behalf of all the customers wanting for it to be launched here, I will push the management to bring the Palisade to India,” Garg added.

At present, the Palisade is a left-hand-drive model, but multiple reports have stated Hyundai is in the process of introducing a right-hand-drive version for the Australian and South African markets, which would make it easier for the company to introduce it in India in limited numbers. To bring the model to our market, Hyundai could leverage the relaxed homologation norms for CBUs, which lets a carmaker import up to 2,500 vehicles a year without needing to homologate them.

In the USA, the Hyundai Palisade is available only with a 3.8-litre V6 petrol engine putting out 295hp and 355Nm of torque. For India, along with a petrol option, Hyundai could also bring the 202hp, 2.2-litre diesel unit that's offered on the South Korea-spec model. An 8-speed automatic transmission is standard in global markets, and a four-wheel-drive option is offered too.

To give you an idea of its size, the Palisade measures 4,980mm in length, 1,975mm in width, 1,750mm in height and also has a substantial 2,900mm wheelbase. It can be had as a 7-seater (with captain seats for the middle row), or an 8-seater.

Sitting at the top of carmaker's SUV range, the Palisade – if launched here – will be the priciest Hyundai on sale in India. Expensive Hyundai models such as the Sonata and Santa Fe have struggled to find favour with Indian audiences in the past, but the Palisade could well be the one to change that trend.

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