Still looks like the Kona
Hyundai dropped a few more photos of the Korean-market Santa Fe following its official debut in Korea. In addition, the automaker revealed a few drivetrain details as well as tech features that will be available in Hyundai’s home market.
The Korean-market Santa Fe will offer three engine options, including two turbodiesels (a 2.0-liter and a 2.2-liter) and one gasoline 2.0-liter turbo-four. All engines come mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and can be paired with Hyundai’s HTRAC all-wheel drive system. It’s unclear exactly which engines the U.S. will get, but we expect the diesels won’t make it stateside.
As we’ve seen in previous images and renderings, the new crossover looks a lot like the Kona. Although it doesn’t appear to have all the Kona’s body cladding, the new Santa Fe features a similar twin headlight design and “cascading” grille. A silver bar connects the grille to the headlights, giving it a more premium feel over its smaller sibling. The interior looks pretty nice, too, with a free-floating infotainment screen, 7.0-inch digital instrument display, and stitching on the dash and doors. In addition to this first showing in Korea, the Hyundai Santa Fe will make an appearance at the Geneva Motor Show.
The new Santa Fe measures 187.8 inches long. At that length, it straddles the line between the current U.S.-market Santa Fe three-row (193.1 inches) and the two-row Santa Fe Sport (185.0 inches). So it’s unclear what to expect for the dimensions of the new Santa Fe lineup here in the U.S. In Europe, Hyundai offers the standard Santa Fe, available with five to seven seats, and the Grand Santa Fe, with six to seven seats.
Expect a host of safety features on the new Santa Fe. It will boast a new rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assistant, which warns the driver if a vehicle approaches from the side and can automatically apply the brakes. It will also feature Safety Exit Assist, which locks the doors temporarily to prevent occupants from opening a door into another vehicle approaching from behind.
We hope to learn more when the Santa Fe makes an appearance at the Geneva Motor Show next month.
Source: Hyundai
Alex Nishimoto contributed to this post