Hyundai Tucson wins Best Medium SUV under $50K

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The most important new-car category for everyday Australian families is medium SUVs.

With the average transaction price of all new cars sold in Australia a shade over $50,000, this places Drive's Best Medium SUV Under $50K squarely as our most important of all 19 categories at the Drive Car of the Year 2025 awards.

Naturally, as so many buyers clamour to get themselves into a medium SUV, manufacturers are only too happy to provide a wealth of options.

Buyers in this segment demand top-notch safety credentials, frugal running costs, excellent packaging, and up-to-date tech inside the cabin. The SUV shapes have to be easy to place into tight underground parking spots, while simultaneously feeling at home on big country roads.

The list of must-haves is long. However, there are a plethora of options sold in Australia willing to cater to all these areas.

In years past, this category was simply named Best Medium SUV. However the $50,000 price cap ensures consumer relevance and persuades manufacturers to be thrifty when it comes to pricing.

The category has seen multiple winners in recent times. The Toyota RAV4 won in 2021, then came the Kia Sportage in 2022, then the Nissan X-Trail in 2023, and most recently, the Honda CR-V took top honours last year.

This goes to show how much movement there is in this category.

While the Honda CR-V was invited back to defend the throne in 2025, it faced new competition in the BYD Sealion 6, MG HS, and Hyundai Tucson in the past 12 months.

With these finalists, it's clear that hybrid powertrains are becoming such an important factor of family transport.

And now, onto the winner of Drive Car of the Year Best Medium SUV under $50K.

MORE: See the finalists for Drive Car of the Year – Best Medium SUV under $50,000
MORE: See all the winners – visit the Drive Car of the Year 2025 hub

Winner: Hyundai Tucson

Drive’s pick: Hyundai Tucson N-Line Hybrid from $49,100 drive-away

The Hyundai Tucson was already a top medium-sized SUV but the updates the Korean manufacturer issued mid-way through 2024 were a masterstroke.

There were subtle updates to exterior styling, more substantial tweaks inside cabin to improve the user experience, but the addition of a hybrid powertrain was the best update of all.

It's a beautifully refined system that provides ample power outputs alongside frugal fuel costs. As well, we're particularly impressed by how smooth the system is at handing off between petrol and electric power.

Hyundai is relatively new to the hybrid game, but to smash it out of the park on its first effort is a fantastic achievement.

In addition to a new hybrid powertrain, Hyundai has improved the Tucson's infotainment, has added new features (such as the Baby Mode), and just plainly improved practicality (such as relocating the gear selector).

MORE: Hyundai Tucson price and specifications

We love that Hyundai has been generous with the amount of variants and options available within the range too. You can have the stylistic N Line pack on any trim grade, hybrid also comes on any trim grade, and AWD is widely available for those who want it.

Being a family-focused SUV, Hyundai equips the new Tucson with myriad safety measures to ensure owners and occupants are as safe as possible behind the wheel.

Even base variants get important features such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), front and rear park sensors, lane-keep assist and lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning, and adaptive cruise control.

The car does come at a higher cost than its predecessor with the top-spec now breaching the $60,000 barrier. However, the new equipment and improvements to the underlying package are a welcome addition.

FIND YOUR NEXT CAR: Search Hyundai Tucsons for sale

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