Hyundai has been hard at work convincing the world that it can produce capable sports cars, and from what we've seen so far with cars such as the Veloster N, they are doing a pretty good job. Its bespoke performance "N" brand has been gaining traction in the motoring community and is starting to bleed into other Hyundai models, or so we thought. The new Hyundai Tucson, which promises to bring some radical styling to the table was promised to come in hot "N" guise, but according to The Korean Car Blog, this won't be happening any longer. What we do know however is that the lesser N-Line car will still be making an appearance.

The next generation Tucson is planned to make its debut on the 15th of September and will go on sale in 2021, and while the N derivative might be scrapped, the N-Line will carry the performance banner for the range. The sporty N-Line is expected to be powered by a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine spitting out a rumored 340 horsepower - up from the 286 hp in the Sonata N Line. This should be good enough for a 0 to 60 mph sprint time of under six seconds. The base car will feature a less powerful naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter engine producing 191 hp.

It was previously believed that the Kona would make the perfect platform for a hot Hyundai SUV, but back in early 2019, Hyundai revealed that it would be using the Tucson as its base for an N derivative. Those close to the N-team said that Hyundai was "not interested in making also-ran cars with N badges on them in whatever class they compete". It is unclear why the Korean manufacturer has canned the Tucson N, but it could have something to do with the fact that the Tucson isn't designed to be flung around a track, and would possibly water down the brand that is known for building cars with razor-sharp handling dynamics and strong all-round performance.