New Hyundai Santa Fe leaked ahead of global debut

The fifth-gen Santa Fe SUV gets a styling overhaul.

Published On Jul 17, 2023 07:17:00 PM

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Hyundai is yet to unveil the next-gen Santa Fe officially, but thanks to these leaked images, the SUV’s final design is out, giving us a clear look at everything that will be new. The new Santa Fe, as we reported a few weeks ago, gets a major styling update inside out, and looks much more premium than its predecessor.

New Santa Fe gets fresh styling inside out
Will come with two seating layouts
Gets dual connected screens on the inside

Next-gen Hyundai Sante Fe exterior styling

The new Santa Fe's styling will be a big departure from the rounded edges of its predecessor to a more boxy design, quite reminiscent of the current Land Rover Defender. The nose is upright and sports H-shaped patterns on multiple areas – like in the LED daytime running lamps, the grille and air dam on the front bumper. The bonnet has a clamshell look and is quite flat, merging neatly with the steeply raked A-pillar.

The large wheel arches are flared, angular and look slab-sided. The A- and the B-pillars are finished in gloss black with the C- and the D-pillars getting body colour treatment. The roofline slopes down slightly towards the rear, joining the completely upright rear windscreen and tailgate. The SUV has a strangely positioned light bar and tail-lamp housing right at the bottom, close to the rear bumper, and seems to be a full width unit.

The new Santa Fe gets thick, contrast black body-cladding all around for that all-important SUV look. In these leaked images, the Santa Fe can be seen with stylish multi-spoke alloy wheels that do look a bit Range Rover-like. Overall, the SUV looks decently proportioned with a squarish profile, and likely measures around 5 metres in length. It seems to have generous ground clearance and an independent rear suspension.

Next-gen Hyundai Sante Fe interior

There's only one leaked picture of the Santa Fe's interior, and it shows the cabin to be as premium as the exterior. There are multiple shades and textures and what looks like soft-touch materials. The steering wheel, again, looks quite similar to the Land Rover line-up of SUVs. There are two screens sharing duties for infotainment and instrumentation, and AC vents positioned below the infotainment unit run across the width of the cabin. The centre console houses controls for HVAC and other functions, which are operated through a touchscreen.

The Santa Fe is expected to be available in two- and three-row seating configurations.

New Hyundai Santa Fe: the India angle

Hyundai offered the Santa Fe SUV in India in its second and third generations, but it wasn’t really a strong seller for the brand. Currently, Hyundai’s flagship SUV for India is the Tucson, which went on sale in August last year. In 2020, Hyundai even evaluated the full-size Palisade SUV for an India launch, but it never made it to our shores. While the Santa Fe could be a good contender from Hyundai to be positioned above the Tucson in India, it remains to be seen if it makes it here.

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