Heavily updated Hyundai Santa Fe teased ahead of unveil

• Official teaser shows dramatic makeover

• Santa Fe will make the switch to a new-gen platform

• Plug-in hybrid variants a possibility

Hyundai has revealed a first teaser of the heavily updated Santa Fe SUV. The refreshed Santa Fe will make its debut in Europe and will subsequently go on sale in other markets.

What’s new on the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

Given that the current-gen Santa Fe went on sale only in 2018, the update has come fairly early in the SUV’s lifecycle. The updated Santa Fe will share a few body panels with the outgoing model but that's where the similarities end. Styling promises to be a huge departure, with a massive grille that runs the width of the front-end; this is what identifies it as the latest version of the Santa Fe. Frontal lighting comes courtesy slit-like LEDs high up and vertically-oriented units on the grille.

A portrait style vertical touchscreen infotainment system, similar to the one seen on the China-spec Hyundai ix25 (Creta) SUV, is expected to be the big change inside the cabin.

Hidden from view is the Santa Fe’s switch to Hyundai-Kia's co-developed third-gen modular vehicle platform. The new platform made its debut on the latest Hyundai Sonata last year and will allow the introduction of hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants on the Santa Fe for the first time.

The Santa Fe’s India journey

Two generations of the Hyundai Santa Fe have been sold in India in the past but low sales meant the SUV was eventually phased out in 2017. There’s no talk of the Santa Fe making a comeback to India just yet but Hyundai officials do see potential for large SUVs in India. In the weeks to come, Hyundai will launch the updated Tucson, its current range-topper in India.