All-new 2027 Hyundai Tucson SUV revealed

The all-new Hyundai Tucson has broken cover in New York City, and it's a big, boxy change from the sleek SUV that's been a mid-size family favourite since 2004, give or take a five-year stint under a different name – the ix35.

Hyundai’s Tucson is a crucial vehicle for the brand, having racked up more than 11 million sales worldwide since its inception in the mid-2000s.

The fifth-generation Tucson is schedule to roll into Aussie showrooms mid-2027 exclusively as a hybrid. The rugged-looking Tucson XRT model grade is confirmed for local showrooms but the even tougher XRT PRO is not part of the local launch line-up.

Following the leak of the new design, Hyundai has revealed full details of the all-new Tucson, its best-selling SUV worldwide. The car-maker is calling it its ‘boldest SUV’ yet.

Under Hyundai's new 'Art of Steel' design language, the Tucson swaps sleek surfaces for chunky wheelarches, crisp lines and a squarer, more rugged stance.

Up front, 'H-Edge' LED lighting stretches across the nose to make the SUV look wider, while at the rear 'prism' tail-lights sit behind what looks like a clear lens.

Hyundai's global CEO and president, José Muñoz, wasn’t short on confidence when revealing the new model.

"Millions of families around the world count on the Hyundai Tucson and this is the best one we have ever built," said the Hyundai Motor Company boss, who is promising a new product assault to stem the Chinese challenger tide.

"Tucson opens the most ambitious product offensive in our history, including more than 100 new and refreshed vehicles globally by 2030," he said.

Take a gander inside the new 2027 Hyundai Tucson and the dash is split into two layers: a horizontal top section with the screens, and a deep open tray underneath for your phone, keys and servo snacks.

Soft padding runs across the dash top, the doors and the centre armrest and Hyundai describes the feel as ‘furniture-inspired’.

Hyundai reckons the new Tucson is a step up in refinement as well and it's thrown a fair bit of engineering at the cabin to prove it, including:

The objective is for a quieter, calmer cabin that cuts occupant fatigue on long trips, according to Hyundai. Think a Hume Highway run where you're not raising your voice over tyre roar on coarse-chip bitumen.

The extra sealing should also help keep water and grime away from the important bits, which is handy for anyone who lives near the coast or likes a dirt road.

In terms of tech, the driver faces a 9.9-inch slimline display mounted above the steering column instead of a normal instrument cluster, so in theory it should never be obstructed.

The main touchscreen is either 12.9 or a whopping 17 inches on up-spec model grades, running Hyundai's new Android Automotive-based Pleos Connect software.

The system includes 'Gleo AI', a voice assistant that is claimed to understand normal conversation. You can ask it for a hiking trail with parking within 30 minutes without digging through menus.

Good news for touchscreen sceptics: the climate and audio controls stay as physical buttons under the centre screen. The gear selector sits on the steering column, which frees up the console.

Then there's the charging, and this is the bit that'll matter to families. The seat backs carry 100-watt USB-C fast-charging ports, strong enough to charge a laptop or even serious appliances, not just keep a phone alive.

Up front are dual 15W Qi 2.0 wireless pads, so both front-seat passengers can top up at once without cables everywhere. However, many rivals run 50W charge pads that can recharge through bulky phone cases.

Hyundai is also targeting a five-star ANCAP rating.

New safety tech includes an in-cabin camera that watches the driver's eyes for signs of tiredness, child presence detection and navigation-linked cruise control.

A number of new ‘nature-inspired’ colours are likely to turn a few heads when it arrives in showrooms next year, including Ranger Green Pearl/Matte which is described as a ‘lush green’ that can shift from ‘greenish metallic silver to a reddish tone’.

There’s also Kodiak Blue Pearl, Driftwood Gray Metallic/Matte and Red Rock Orange Pearl/Matte, the latter a ‘rugged canyon-inspired tone’ aimed at the rugged XRT models.

Other markets get petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. Australia gets the hybrid and nothing else. For now.

The next-gen petrol-electric plug-less hybrid system pairs a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine with two electric motors: a 13kW 'P1' unit and a 48kW 'P2' unit.

The e-motors draw energy from a 1.5kWh battery and all three powerplants drive through a six-speed automatic. No CVT here.

Korean-market figures work out to between 174kW and 180kW of combined power and 380Nm of torque. That's up from the current Tucson Hybrid's 172kW/367Nm, but local outputs are yet to be confirmed.

Hyundai quotes a 0-60mph (0-97km/h) time of 8.5 seconds. Not as fast as most EVs but far from slow. It also claims an electronic 'E-Traction' system that shuffles torque to reduce wheelspin mid-corner.

A new 'Stay Mode' lets you run the air-con, heating, audio and device charging with the engine off. Handy when waiting at the school pick and or for click and collect groceries.

In North America, the hybrid tows up to 1361kg, a 454kg jump over the old model. Towing figures for Australia haven't been announced.

The Tucson XRT is coming to Australia, bringing a tougher look with wide front cladding, extended black wheelarch trim, bold bumpers, skid plates and a forged-carbon-look finish on the lower body.

Inside, XRT models get dark metal highlights plus their own seat patterns and logos, not unlike the new Nissan X-TRAIL Rock Creek that’s just launched in Australia.

However, the 2027 Hyundai Tucson XRT PRO is where meaningful upgrades are added. But it's North America only and at the time of writing is not slated for an Aussie release. Nevertheless, it adds:

Add a low-speed crawl control that holds a set speed between 2km/h and 25km/h, and the Tucson XRT PRO is a proper weekend-escape machine.

Aussie buyers may lament the lack of the XRT PRO model, given Australia is full of dirt roads, beach tracks and boat ramps, where an extra 30mm of clearance and some grippy rubber would likely be welcome additions.

The long-wheelbase choice also means Aussie buyers will likely miss a few European goodies.

Hyundai's footnotes list several features as short-wheelbase only and these include 25,600-pixel ‘Micro Pixel’ headlights, massaging front seats, a one-touch reclining seat, three-zone climate control, a heated windscreen that de-ices in 15 minutes and Trailer Reverse Assist.

The new 2027 Hyundai Tucson has grown, and the extra size goes straight into extra room in the cabin.

The long-wheelbase body coming to Australia is 4700mm long (+60mm), 1905mm wide (+40mm) and 1685mm tall (+20mm), on a 2785mm wheelbase (+30mm).

Hyundai says the width gain is the biggest in the mid-size SUV segment which liberates more shoulder room up front, while the longer wheel base and body length add extra legroom in the rear for growing families.

The doors now open to 83 degrees instead of 73, which makes fitting a baby seat a bit less painful.

Hyundai quotes 1067 litres of cargo space for the Korean model. That's measured on the American SAE standard, which doesn’t with the 592L figure quoted for today's local Tucson Hybrid.

As far as the name is concerned, Hyundai went all-in on naming its SUVs after places in the US: Kona (Hawaii), Palisade (California), Santa Fe (New Mexico) and Tucson (Arizona). The Venue, meanwhile, is named after… somewhere people want to be, according to Hyundai.

When the 2027 Hyundai Tucson arrives in Australia midway through 2027, it’ll have a fair old fight on its hands given the medium SUV segment has never been busier.

Mid-size SUVs have made up 27.9 per cent of all new cars sold in Australia so far in 2026. Sales are up 21.6% to 226,490, with almost 70 nameplates competing.

However, the current Tucson is holding its own. It sold 1548 units in August (+15.5%) and 14,272 year to date (+5.5%). That makes it third in the mid-size SUVs category in Australia, behind the Toyota RAV4 (26,585) and a surging BYD Sealion 7 (17,277, up 161.9%) EV.

The Tucson is just ahead of the Mazda CX-5 (13,838), Mitsubishi Outlander (13,320) and its Kia Sportage cousin (12,773). The Geely EX5 (10,737) is climbing fast while the Subaru Forester has slipped 24.8% to 7333 sales to the end of August.

So the outgoing Tucson is still pulling its weight but the all-new model won't arrive until mid-2027 which gives the Chinese brands and a cheaper, hybrid-only RAV4, around nine months to grab more buyers while the current Tucson enters its final months of runout next year.

Pricing and specs for Australia are still not known and will be announced closer to launch.

For the record, the current Tucson starts from $39,100 plus on-road costs (ORCs) for the petrol model, which the 2WD hybrid opens the ledger at $42,850. Expect the hybrid-only newcomer to start above $40K, depending on the fit out.

Hyundai ha also confirmed it will show a new sport-inspired version of the Tucson at the Paris motor show on October 12, but it remains to be seen whether it will be the much-rumoured Forester STI-baiting Tucson N.