Hyundai will unveil next-generation versions of the Tucson and Elantra before the end of this year, CEO José Muñoz revealed in a letter to shareholders. Muñoz used the letter to emphasize that Hyundai is pursuing a market-specific strategy rather than a universal global approach — recognizing that buyers in different parts of the world have different expectations. The executive laid out plans to introduce an "all-new Tucson compact SUV and all-new Elantra sedan" in South Korea, the brand's home market.
Muñoz stopped short of explicitly confirming these vehicles for North America, but it would be genuinely surprising if both didn't make the trip across the Pacific for the 2027 model year. Sedan demand has softened broadly across North America, yet Hyundai still delivered 148,200 Elantras in the U.S. last year. The Tucson did even better: with 234,230 U.S. sales, it stood as the brand's top-selling model in the country.
Should the refreshed Tucson and Elantra reach North America, they'll be accompanied by a new plug-in hybrid model that Muñoz says is coming in 2027. The executive specifically mentioned "Extended Range Electric Vehicles," suggesting the new model will use a sizeable battery pack with a small internal-combustion engine acting as a generator rather than a direct drive source. The language also implies this powertrain architecture could eventually spread to multiple models.
Hyundai is also pressing ahead with plans to enter the body-on-frame pickup truck segment for the first time with a mid-size model, targeting a launch before the end of the decade. Specifics remain scarce, though a relationship with the Kia Tasman pickup that arrived in late 2024 seems plausible.