2027 Hyundai Tucson First Look: Our Favorite Small SUV Gets Bigger, Bolder, Smarter

• What's new: The 2027 Hyundai Tucson gets a full redesign, with new styling that's sure to turn heads.
• Why it matters: Already one of the roomiest small SUVs around, it's bigger inside and gets a new infotainment system to boot.
• Edmunds says: The hybrid version of the Tucson was already our top-ranked small SUV, and this new one appears even better on first blush.

New Tucson, who dis

If you find yourself thinking that Hyundai's vehicles all somehow look completely different with each generation, you'd be right, and that's by design. I spoke with Simon Loasby, SVP and head of Hyundai Design Center, and he said that the mandate for each new generation is to completely reinvent its appearance and carry nothing forward.

That's how we've ended up with a new angular Tucson that looks nothing like the curvy one before it. This new design is being called "Art of Steel" by Hyundai, and besides making me think of Superman, it's very striking in person. The sharp lines tapering down toward the middle from both fenders give it real dimension from the sides, and the clamshell hood makes the front look more imposing. But my favorite part of the new design is the lighting, with dramatic lines up front and prism-like taillights at the rear. 

But once you hop inside, the curves come back. It does make the interior and exterior feel a bit disjointed, but there's so much space inside that the cabin's airiness is its defining characteristic rather than its look. The shifter has relocated to the upper part of the steering column, not down low like it is in the Palisade, so it won't bump the knees of taller drivers. That's allowed for an extra storage compartment under the driver's armrest, along with shelves in front of both the driver and the passenger. Small-item storage was a strength of the last Tucson, and it's even better now.

The Tucson has also grown by a couple of inches, and backseat passengers will appreciate the extra room. Drivers and passengers well over 6 feet tall will find plenty of space, and the rear doors now open to almost 90 degrees, making it easier to climb in and to load in car seats. And cargo space has also grown to 41.7 cubic feet, which is significantly more than the Toyota RAV4 (37.8 cubic feet) and the upcoming Nissan Rogue Hybrid (31.1 cubic feet).

Technology you might actually want to talk to

The new dashboard design puts the Tucson's infotainment screen front and center, with a 12.9-inch touchscreen standard and a 17-inch touchscreen optional. There's also a brand-new infotainment system coming with this redesign, which Hyundai calls Pleos (pronounced play-ohs). It will immediately look familiar to those who have seen the Tesla Model 3 or Model Y, with the left side of the screen reserved for vehicle information and the right for settings, navigation and other tasks. Even the vehicle menu looks very similar to Tesla's, but if you're going to copy someone's homework, it's a great place to start because we like that infotainment system quite a bit. And unlike Tesla's, it will still offer wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, to give drivers more choice.

As a part of the new infotainment system, you'll also be getting Gleo (short for "Galileo"), a new voice assistant. I haven't met a voice assistant I really like yet. Even if you're using a third-party setup like Google Assistant, which is great at identifying speech, it's still not always clear which commands it can actually execute. But Gleo will allow multiple commands in one query, and it can parse natural speech to find destinations, change the climate, and even lower the windows on the go. We'll have to test it out a bit more to see how useful it is in day-to-day life, but it has the potential to be the first voice command setup I'd be happy to use regularly.

I also appreciate that even with all this new technology, Hyundai has kept its control setup simple. Real buttons on the steering wheel and a full set of physical controls for the climate functions below the screen are all intuitively placed and easy to reach. 

Hybrid and gas versions remain

The Tucson will continue to be offered in gas and hybrid versions; a plug-in will be offered overseas, but it's been discontinued in the U.S. (same as with the Santa Fe). Gas models will continue to use the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder (the 2.5-liter has been dropped), but it's the hybrid models that are more intriguing.

Those get a slight power bump to 233 total horsepower, but more excitingly, fuel economy has also improved to an estimated 42 mpg combined for front-wheel-drive models. We should note that, in our experience, Hyundai's hybrid models have fallen short of their estimates, so we'll keep an eye on that when we can spend extended time behind the wheel. Hyundai says regenerative braking is more powerful now and can recover more energy for the battery, which may help the Tucson hit its numbers.

Hybrid models will also add a new Stay mode, which uses the hybrid battery to power the climate and entertainment systems when parked, so you can stay cool without using any gas.

The new Tucson will also debut a new rugged XRT Pro trim, which comes only with the hybrid powertrain. It has extra ground clearance (8.3 inches), steeper approach and departure angles, all-terrain tires, underbody protection, and integrated tow hooks. There's also a new terrain assist system that monitors wheel conditions and displays a green, orange, or red light for the driver — green means good, orange means be careful, and red means you should probably reconsider the route you're on.

How much will the new Tucson cost me?

That's the only piece of the puzzle we're still waiting for, as the Tucson's growth and new technology likely mean a higher price. We won't find that out until closer to the SUV's on-sale date in early 2027.

That said, everything that we saw at first glance indicates that the best small SUV has only gotten better. It was already among the roomiest, most practical compacts around, and it's now even roomier. Combined with a technology upgrade and new styling, the Tucson isn't just content to be No. 1; it wants to widen the gap even further.