New Hyundai Santa Fe: First Images

The Korean company is preparing a new generation of its popular crossover, and judging by the available spy photos of test samples, the novelty will be radically different from the current model.

The first generation Santa Fe appeared in 2000, becoming the serial version of the concept of the same name, demonstrated a year earlier at the Detroit International Auto Show. He also became the first crossover in the history of the brand, followed by Tucson was introduced only in 2004. Today, the fourth generation of the SUV is already on the conveyor, its premiere took place in February 2018, and in the summer of 2020 the model received a noticeable restyling. now, Hyundai is preparing a completely new crossover, which outwardly will have little to do with the current Santa Fe.

So far, we have at our disposal a few spy photos and videos that show heavily camouflaged samples. However, it is already clear that the model will receive a completely new angular body, shaped like the latest generation Defender. Here, the shape of the windows is similar and the windshield pillars are made in black. The front part is made almost vertical, and the headlights will receive H-shaped LED running lights. The wheel arches are round, but the wide plastic lining on them is made angular. The rear part is still the most disguised, you can only see the horizontal lights located at the very bottom of the trunk lid. It is possible that the Santa Fe will also receive vertical blocks, similar to those we have previously seen on the futuristic Staria minivan. Also, the crossover is shown with one of the variants of the original discs.

There is no reliable information about the technical part of the novelty yet. The current Santa Fe in its pre-styling form was built on the Hyundai-Kia Y6 platform (the previous generation Kia Sorento was also made on it), and when restyling, the crossover “moved” to the Hyundai-Kia N3 platform, which is used by the current Sorento. In the home market in South Korea, the crossover is equipped with a 281-horsepower turbocharged 2.5 T-GDI petrol and a 194-horsepower 2.2-liter turbodiesel. The Santa Fe is also available as a plug-in hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) in various markets.

The premiere of the new generation Santa Fe is expected next year.