Hyundai has reinvented its best-selling Tucson crossover with a bold new 4x4-inspired look for its fifth generation.
Revealed overnight in Korea, the new Tucson is described as "bolder and more robust" than today's car, which is one of the most popular mid-sized SUVs on sale, ranking in the UK's top 10 best-selling cars for the past four years in a row and becoming the world's seventh-best-selling car in 2025.
The Toyota RAV4 rival's chunky new look is in keeping with Hyundai's new Art of Steel design language, which was introduced with the second-generation Nexo and will be rolled out across the line-up over the coming years.
Defining features include an upright, two-box silhouette that departs from the outgoing car's rounded form, and distinctive lighting signatures including a new H-shaped motif at both ends formed by a slim, wraparound light bar and vertical daytime-running lights.
Dramatically swollen arches, lower body cladding and a prominent skid plate, meanwhile, add an element of off-road flavouring and help to give the "stable stance characteristic of an SUV", says Hyundai.
At 4700mm long, the new Tucson is a significant 180mm longer than the current car, which effectively bumps it from the C-segment into the D-segment, where it will more directly compete with the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Honda CR-V and Renault Austral.
It's also around 100mm longer between the axles, with a wheelbase of 2785mm, and 40mm wider, which Hyundai says means it offers "best-in-class interior space".
Head room is also up in the second row by 29mm – most likely a result of the flatter roofline – and the back doors now open wider to make it easier to get in and out of.
The cabin itself is a dramatic departure from that of the current car, following the new Ioniq 3 in adopting a cleaner and more minimalist treatment centred on a substantial touchscreen, with a slim digital display above the squared-off steering wheel said to "minimise driver distraction".
Hyundai has given no details yet on which powertrains it will offer in the new Tucson; the current car offers the choice of mild, full and plug-in hybrids, as well as a cheaper pure-petrol engine.
