Nip/tuck double time

Less than two years after its local introduction, the second-generation Hyundai Creta gets a surprise facelift

- Kyle Kock

Price: R469 900 Engine: 1,5-litre, 4-cyl petrol Transmission: CVT Power: 84 kW @ 6 300 r/min Torque: 144 N.m @ 4 500 r/min Top speed: 170 km/h Fuel consumption: 6,3 L/100 km* CO₂: 143 g/km* Rivals: Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster, Volkswagen T-Cross

When the second generation Creta was introduced in 2020, it arrived with substantial updates. Interestingly, Hyundai has chosen to facelift the car just 24 months later. Traditionally, product life cycles are about a decade. Throw in a mid-cycle facelift and you're looking at maybe four or five years between updates, or at least a visual revamp, but that philosophy has apparently been thrown out the window with the Creta.

This is not a deliberate move by Hyundai South Africa to throw recent Creta customers under the bus. The fresh design is actually in line with that of the recently launched Tucson, combined with the fact that the car is being built at a recently finished plant in Indonesia. This facility will export the new Creta to South Africa and take over from a production facility in India, which couldn't commit to SA's burgeoning need.