The 2021 Hyundai Tucson as tested by New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin NCAP was rated with zero stars. The tested Hyundai Tucson was produced in Korea and Czech Republic, with two frontal airbags as standard and the SUV achieved 50.23% in adult occupant safety, 5.34% in child occupant safety, 48.40% in pedestrian protection and vulnerable road users and 6.98% in safety assist category.
The manufacturer then claimed that the new Tucson was better and safer so Latin NCAP decided to test the new Tucson in 2022. The new version of the Tucson was tested in frontal impact and side impact, whiplash and pedestrian protection. The lack of side curtain airbags as standard limited the score and better performance in Adult Occupant Protection. The lack of ISOFIX marking meeting Latin NCAP requirements and the standard lapbelt in the most basic safety spec in the rear centre position as well as the lack of passenger airbag disabling switch explain the low score for Child Occupant Protection. Pedestrian Protection was overall average, however it showed poor protection for some areas of the upper leg. Safety Assist box showed poor results as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is not standard as well as speed limitation.
As a result of the latest Tucson zero stars, Hyundai decided to improve the basic equipment of the model adding standard side airbags, side curtain airbags, three point belts in all positions, i-size marking, seatbelt reminder for the front passenger position, ESC and speed limitation system. The updated model was tested and rated with three stars. The SUV achieved 81.61% in Adult Occupant box, 69.53% in Child Occupant box, 48.40% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 55.81% in Safety Assist box. The result is valid for units from VIN KMHJB81DBPU158713 and production date 2nd June 2022 for Korea production and from VIN TMAJB81DAPJ199084 and production date 4th April 2022 for Czech Republic production.
On top of the previous tests, the car was also tested in side pole impact, ESC, Moose Test and speed assist. These safety features showed satisfactory performance, together with the decision of Hyundai to update the I-size marking, and make 3 point belts standard among other improvements , explain the increase to 3 stars. Latin NCAP also tested optional equipment like Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Support Systems and Road Edge Detection, which all showed good performance but as they are in lower volumes than those required by Latin NCAP, they do not contribute to the score and star rating.
