2027 Hyundai Tucson Revealed: “Art of Steel” Makes the Old One Look Ancient
Hyundai has just revealed the fifth-generation Tucson in South Korea today, and nobody makes their own cars look old faster than the Koreans. This one is brutal about it. Park the outgoing Tucson next to this: same nameplate, one generation apart, and the old one looks like it is from a different decade.
What changed on the 2027 Tucson?
The new design language is called ‘Art of Steel’, and the Tucson is the second Hyundai to wear it after the new Elantra. Boxy, squared-off quarter panels, hard angles across the doors, big cladding, and an illuminated H at both ends. The headlights and taillights almost look interchangeable, and the front bar uses indirect lighting so you see the glow, not the source (a la Tesla Model Y). Eight exterior colors at launch, five of them new, including a matte Red Rock Orange.
The adventurous XRT trim survives the redesign too, with its own bumper, skid plate, and blacked-out accents.
How much bigger is the new Tucson?
Bigger everywhere. About 2.4 inches longer, 1.6 inches wider, with 1.2 inches added to the wheelbase. Second-row headroom grows by over an inch, and the rear doors now open 10 degrees further, to 83 degrees, which every parent loading a child into their car seat just quietly applauded.
| Change | Figure |
|---|---|
| Length | +60mm (about 2.4 in) |
| Width | +40mm (about 1.6 in) |
| Wheelbase | +30mm (about 1.2 in) |
| Rear-seat headroom | +29mm (about 1.1 in) |
| Rear door opening | 73 to 83 degrees |
What is the interior like?
Wood trim, ambient lighting, and Hyundai’s new Pleos software running on one big tablet-style touchscreen, with a slim digital cluster behind a squared two-spoke wheel. It looks like a nice place to sit. One complaint from here: give me more buttons. There is a row of physical controls under the screen, and I want twice that.
When does the 2027 Tucson come out?
Powertrains have not been announced, though expect the gas and hybrid lineup to carry over in spirit when it reaches the United States. Korea gets the new Tucson first, later this year, with the global rollout starting in October.
The MoneyShift take
The design will take people time. I am in already. Hyundai keeps doing the hardest thing in car design, forging it’s own path in a crowded segment. They could have just kept a similar “Toyota Rav4-esque” or “Nissan Rogue-esque” shape and interior, but instead pushed the needle and produced something genuinely different and refreshing. If the price stays sane and the buttons multiply, this is going to be a problem for the RAV4.
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