7-seat Hyundai Tucson (Hyundai ix35) chassis mule spied in China

However, these spy shots are of a test mule based on the China-only Hyundai ix35.

The new Hyundai ix35 was introduced last April built on the second-gen Tucson's hardware. It appears that Beijing-Hyundai is working on a long-body version of it next. Spy shots show a stretched wheelbase, but the elongated C-pillar is just a hack to get component testing started. Expect a new top hat with Hyundai's new design language on the deluxe Tucson variant.

Hyundai has a different plan for the competitive three-row SUV markets like India where the Santa Fe is deemed expensive by the costing teams. HMC plans to launch the fourth generation Tucson in 5- and 7-seat versions, the same way Volkswagen and Honda offer the Tiguan (7-seat version: Tiguan Allspace/Tiguan L) and CR-V respectively internationally.

The bigger Hyundai ix35 could go on sale in China sometime in 2019.