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BEVERLY HILLS, CA – You would think Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. could do nothing wrong these days.

The Korean auto maker’s first foray into the luxury-car segment produced the Hyundai Genesis sedan, which in its two years of existence has been showered with awards, including back-to-back Ward’s 10 Best Engines nods.

In the U.S., its performance in third-party quality, reliability and satisfaction studies has catapulted, and the auto maker’s growing fleet ranks among the industry’s most fuel efficient. Its latest promise is to trim the weight of its vehicles 10% in the next five years.

Not surprisingly, Hyundai Motor America’s sales and market share are growing at a time when others see double-digit decreases and are fighting desperately to hold their portion.

Into this environment arrives the redesigned-for-’10 Hyundai Tucson cross/utility vehicle, which has so many good points, such as fuel economy and exterior styling, it would be easy to overlook its few shortcomings.

That is, if those shortcomings weren’t so darned obvious.

The principle offender is a weak electric power steering system from Korean parts maker Mando Corp. Not just poorly calibrated, which obscures on-center feel, the system also lacks the responsiveness other auto makers, notably Volkswagen AG, have been able to dial into their electrically assisted setups.

However, the good news is the funky steering varied by degrees between front- and all-wheel-drive models, as well as wheel and tires sizes, suggesting the Tucson’s fuel-saving EPS may be a work in progress.