2005 Hyundai Tucson Review
Hyundai's distinctions fade.
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Problems are problems. Everyone's got them and they're never fun, but they can sometimes imply progress. Just as acne signals development and paying taxes signals having income, Hyundai's expanding vehicle lineup has been running into problems of overlap. The latest culprit is this Tucson, its all-new "cute ute" that's encroaching on the breathing room of its barely-larger Santa Fe. Yet this crowding points to something that becomes more obvious by the day: Hyundai's almost done with its journey to become a full-range, major-league automaker.
Hyundai followed the norm set by the pioneering Toyota RAV4 back in 1996: take your corporate compact car and give it some ground clearance and rugged styling. The Tucson dives into a sea swimming with Toyota RAV4s, Honda CR-Vs and Elements, Subaru Foresters, Mazda Tributes and Ford Escapes, Saturn VUEs and Chevy Equinoxes, Mitsubishi Outlanders, and its own twin, the new Kia Sportage. To some extent, there's also Jeep's Liberty, Nissan's XTerra, and Suzuki's Vitara. Wow, isn't that pretty much everyone? Next Page
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