Hyundai has unveiled the new Tucson, and the first thing you’ll probably notice is that it hasn’t tried to turn its best-selling SUV into another smooth electric blob.
It’s still quite square. And that`s good.
The new generation made its debut in New York on October 1 and introduces Hyundai’s latest “Art of Steel” design language, along with a heavily revised cabin and a new generation of hybrid technology. Tucson remains one of Hyundai’s most important global models, so this isn’t the sort of redesign where the company can afford to get too experimental.
The exterior is certainly cleaner than before. Hyundai has moved away from some of the complicated surface treatment used on the outgoing Tucson, giving the new car a more upright nose, stronger wheel arches and a body that looks broader without simply piling on more decorative pieces.
Inside, the bigger change is digital.
The Tucson introduces Pleos Connect, Hyundai’s latest infotainment system, with Gleo AI integrated into the interface. Hyundai is gradually moving toward a much more software-driven cockpit across its range, and the Tucson is important because this technology is no longer being reserved for an expensive flagship or experimental EV.
Most buyers will encounter it in an ordinary family SUV.
The powertrain strategy is equally interesting. Hyundai isn’t treating battery-electric power as the only destination and is continuing to develop hybrids alongside its EV range. At its Aachen technology presentation this week, the wider Hyundai Motor Group specifically described its future strategy as a mixture of EVs, hybrids, extended-range EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles rather than betting everything on one solution.
That makes sense for the Tucson.
It’s sold across too many markets, to too many different kinds of buyers, for one drivetrain to suit everybody. A family using the car for short urban trips has different requirements from somebody regularly covering hundreds of motorway kilometres, and charging infrastructure still varies enormously between countries.
Hyundai also knows better than to mess too much with something that already works. The Tucson has become one of those SUVs you see everywhere without really noticing how successful it has become.
The new model doesn’t appear interested in changing that.
There is more technology, the hybrid system continues to evolve and the dashboard has moved another step toward Hyundai’s next software generation, but the basic idea remains familiar: five seats, useful space and SUV proportions that actually look like SUV proportions.
Sometimes a redesign doesn’t need a revolution. It just needs to avoid ruining the car people were already buying.
