Hyundai Tucson is Best Mid-Size SUV 2021

The new Hyundai Tucson has been named carsales’ Best Mid-Size SUV for 2021.

Launched just last month, the all-new medium SUV claimed top honours from a formidable field of 19 candidates in Australia’s biggest new-vehicle sales segment.

Scoring more points across more areas of assessment than any of the 12 strong contenders on our shortlist, the Tucson is the second Hyundai model to claim a carsales Best award in as many months, after we named the Hyundai Kona our Best Small SUV for 2021 last month.

As with all carsales Best awards, to decide the nation’s best medium SUV we assessed more than 100 criteria across five key areas including safety, technology, comfort and convenience, driving performance and ownership costs.

For Best Mid-Size SUV 2021, which applies to the entire model range, we selected the highest luxury model grade from each brand with a recommended retail price as close to $50,000 as possible.

Most model variants we assessed have a manufacturer’s list price significantly less than that, although the formidable new Hyundai Tucson Highlander with a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine costs exactly $50K plus on-road costs.

However, the Tucson is not only the newest model in this field, but scored more points across all five areas of assessment to take top honours overall.

Other new-generation models launched over the past three years include the Ford Escape, MG HS, Skoda Karoq, Subaru Forester and Australia’s most popular SUV, the Toyota RAV4.

Older models that have been updated in recent times include the Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan X-TRAIL and Volkswagen Tiguan.

carsales Best Mid-Size SUV 2021 contenders:
Ford Escape
Honda CR-V
Hyundai Tucson
Kia Sportage
Mazda CX-5
MG HS
Mitsubishi Outlander
Nissan X-TRAIL
Skoda Karoq
Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4
Volkswagen Tiguan