Hyundai has revealed its latest generation of Santa Fe, and it marks a dramatic departure from the styling of the two previous models.
At the new Santa Fe launch, Hyundai's head of design said that the car's more upright, blocky styling is intended to allow it to lean more into the off-road, adventurous parts of its personality.
City life and the outdoors
"The all-new Santa Fe is an SUV that finds a perfect balance between city life and the great outdoors, handling everything from busy family itineraries to car camping adventures," said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. "With its longer wheelbase, roomy interior and terrace-like tailgate space, the new Santa Fe leans into its SUV strengths to offer more versatility than ever before as well as a premium customer experience."
A longer wheelbase should make the cabin even more roomy than the current, very spacious Santa Fe. The rear overhang has also been extended to allow a bigger boot and more seat space in the third row. The front overhang has been shortened, so the overall length should not be all that different from the current model.
At the rear, framing a larger tailgate, is a set of H-shaped lights echoing those at the front.
Terrace-like ambience
Inside, Hyundai says that the Santa Fe's two rear rows of seats both fold flat to give a 'terrace-like' ambience, allowing space for work or relaxing. The space inside, says Hyundai, makes the Santa Fe "a scene stealer" when it comes to "shopping, home improvement projects, sports and recreation, gardening, family outings and pet transportation."
Inside, there is a clear influence from the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 electric cars in the dashboard design, with a curved, conjoined screen housing both the instruments and infotainment, while the H-shape of the exterior lights is repeated in the dashboard and air vents.
Luxurious materials
Hyundai is clearly aiming for a luxurious cabin experience, too, with wood-style trim and Nappa leather for the seats. Equally, there is a good deal of recycled material inside, including the suede headliner, floor mats and second-and-third-row seatbacks made from recycled plastic, while the door trim covers are made from eco-friendly leatherette.
Plug-in hybrid power
The car in the photos comes with a 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which is for the US and Korean markets only for now, but it seems likely that Irish models will get a heavily updated plug-in hybrid system with a larger battery allowing for more electric-only range.
We'll get more details when Hyundai officially presents the Santa Fe to the public in August.