Hyundai Looks for Growth With Refreshed Tucson, Santa Cruz, Ioniq 5

LOS OLIVOS, CA – Like many automotive brands selling in the U.S. over the past decade, Hyundai’s crossover sales have grown sharply.

The Korean brand has been so successful at flipping the script from when cars such as the Accent, Elantra and Sonata were the bulk of its volume here that light trucks made up 74% of its 469,000 U.S. sales through July.

But Hyundai still believes its CUVs have much more upside, particularly in the compact segment where the brand’s Tucson model has grown steadily since its introduction in 2004. It racked up more than 200,000 annual deliveries for the first time last year, but that was less than half the nearly 435,000 RAV4s rival Toyota sold in the States in 2023.

With not only Toyota towering over the competition, but the Tucson placing fifth in compact CUV sales in 2023 in the U.S. (also behind the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue and Chevy Equinox), a Hyundai Motor North America executive says his brand can take Tucson further.

“We think there’s additional opportunity for Hyundai Tucson to grow because, as a percent of our brand sales, Tucson accounted for about 23% of our (2023) brand sales, while for Honda and Nissan, their compact (CUVs) accounted for over 30% of their sales,” John Shon, senior group manager-product planning for Hyundai Motor North America, tells analysts and media here during a program last week.

With nearly 18% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in first-half 2024 a compact CUV, Hyundai is hopeful that changes to the Tucson for the 2025 model year will drive volume for the vehicle, and that refreshes to other models as well as new variants will help raise its CUV volume overall in the coming years. The U.S. is a key market for Hyundai, which last week announced that globally it will target 5.55 million vehicle sales by 2030, a 30% increase from 2023.

Tucson Changes

The Tucson, last redesigned for 2022, gets a slight exterior update and a heavy one inside thanks to a new interior design.

The Tucson now has the same modern and minimalistic instrument panels and center consoles already seen in Hyundai’s smaller Kona compact crossover and the new Santa Fe midsize CUV. Both the Kona and Santa Fe were 2024 Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX winners.

The Tucson shares the horizontal IP of those models, as well as the same big, wide display screen (two displays set side by side to give the appearance of one) and standard shift-by-wire that frees up space in the center console for dual wireless phone chargers.

For the Tucson’s exterior, Hyundai designers gave the CUV’s daytime running lights a wider and more vertical look to create an overall stronger appearance. The front end of the 2025 Tucson vs. the 2022 Tucson has a more menacing fascia, with the XRT off-road grade boasting a more rugged facial design than all other Tucson grades, plus body cladding, raised roof rails and dark finishes throughout.

Appearance updates to the Tucson extend to all grades, including hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants, which add adjustable regenerative braking as a new feature. Schon says the HEV and PHEV versions of the vehicle accounted for a quarter of all 2024 model-year Tucson sales and Hyundai wants to grow that figure, too.

Santa Cruz, Ioniq 5, Santa Fe Updates for 2025

The Tucson’s platform mate, the Hyundai Santa Cruz compact pickup, also gets the same interior design as the Tucson for 2025, but also with new front and rear bumpers, alloy wheel designs, a bed light switch for certain models and XRT’ debossing on seats in that grade. Additionally, Hyundai is offering Bluelink+ features and services, as well as SiriusXM satellite radio, standard on all models of the Santa Cruz.

But changes don’t stop at its compact lineup, as Hyundai also rolls out a new off-road variant of its relatively successful Ioniq 5 battery-electric CUV.

The Ioniq 5 XRT offers pixelated digital camo-themed exterior and interior trim, black side sills and window surrounds, as well as a nearly 1-in. (23-mm) higher suspension height and special XRT badging inside and out.

The Ioniq 5 overall gets increased capacities for 2025 model lithium-ion battery packs, from 58 to 63 kWh for standard-range models, and 77.4 to 84 kWh for long-range Ioniq 5s, which results in improved driving ranges. Ioniq 5 driving range grows from 220-303 miles (354-488 km) in 2024 models to 240-310 miles (386-499 km) in 2025 models, depending on grade, wheels and whether they are rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

The Ioniq 5 also becomes the first Hyundai with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port factory-installed, as Hyundai is one of many automakers inking a deal with NACS developer Tesla for Hyundais to use Tesla’s Supercharger stations. Hyundai will offer a NACS-to-CCS adapter for Ioniq 5s so drivers will not be limited to only NACS connectors.

Lastly, Hyundai also is launching for the new model year the hybrid variant of its midsize CUV the Santa Fe. On sale now at its U.S. dealers, the Santa Fe Hybrid is estimated to achieve 34 or 36 combined mpg (6.9/6.5 L/100 km) in AWD and RWD configurations, respectively, at least 10 mpg more than the combined fuel economy in non-hybrid Santa Fes.

The Tucson and its variants, the Tucson hybrid and Tucson plug-in hybrid, go on sale this month in the U.S., with prices starting at just under $30,000 for the Tucson and topping out at $48,000 for the Tucson PHEV.

The 2025 Santa Cruz hits Hyundai dealers around the same time, while the Ioniq 5 arrives in November.

With the exception of the Korea-sourced Ioniq 5 N performance model, all 2025 Ioniq 5s sold in the U.S. will be assembled in the U.S., at Hyundai’s new Savannah, GA, Metaplant, to take advantage of the federal tax credit for BEVs that are locally built. However, Hyundai notes the vehicle, due to the presence of some imported materials in its battery pack, will not qualify for the full $7,500 credit initially, but half of it at $3,750. It notes leased Ioniq 5s continue to receive the full $7,500 credit.