New, Bigger Hyundai Tucson Debuts in New York

The third-generation Hyundai Tucson makes its U.S. auto show debut today in New York.

On sale in July, the new Tucson, which had its global coming out at last month’s Geneva Motor Show, is key to Hyundai growing sales and market share in the U.S.

“Tucson, Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport represent about 25% of our volume, and that’s second-lowest (CUV mix) in the industry next to Volkswagen,” Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America CEO, told WardsAuto in January of the brand’s small portion of CUV sales in the U.S.

It’s a situation he and other Hyundai officials blame on lack of inventory, but the current Tucson is smaller than many of its CUV competitors, which started as compact CUVs but now lean closer to midsize proportions.