With recent interest having centred on the new all-new Tucson and Santa Cruz pick-up, Hyundai has sprung a surprise by revealing the first official teaser image of the facelift Santa Fe.
Released in the early hours of today (26 May), the revision comes as an unexpected given that the Santa Fe only made its world debut two years ago with styling being heavily influenced by the next step-up Palisade. Based on the images though, it will now take after the new Elantra and Sonata with the same jewelled Cascading Grille, but also feature a unique take on the dual headlight design with the arrangement forming a T shape that could also appear on the Tucson.
Aside from the lights and grille, the facia sports a just visible skidplate, curved indentations on the bonnet and a deep lower air intake with prominent ducts having been integrated into the flanks of the bumper.
Although no images of the interior was shown, The Korean Car Blog has caught sight of the Santa Fe’s cabin, showing a Palisade inspired look in the form of a button and switch heavy centre console, the now familiar 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system and button-operated automatic gearbox.
Up front, the Santa Fe could ditch the current range of normally aspirated four-and-six-cylinder engines for possibly the high-powered 2.0 and 2.5-litre turbo-petrols used by sister brand Kia, with the stalwart 2.2-litre turbodiesel set to continue albeit with a number of changes. For the first time, the Santa Fe could include a hybrid powertrain in the shape of the 1.6 T-GDI slated for the Tucson.
According to reports, the Santa Fe is forecasted to bow, in Europe, around September with sales following soon after. If however confirmed for South Africa, where sales have struggled and are often in single digits, expect it to debut in 2021.
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