One of the things that makes Korean automakers interesting is their willingness to radically reinvent existing models at replacement time. While European brands like Audi make only careful evolutionary changes, Hyundai is prepared to rip everything up and start again.
You might argue that it’s because they lack the sense of identity that more established brands like Audi have, but it certainly makes for a more exciting spectator sport. Take the Santa Fe you see here, for instance. Okay, you don’t see very much of it because this very early prototype is wearing more camouflage than a Navy SEAL, but we can still clearly see that Hyundai is taking the Santa Fe’s design in a completely different direction.
The current car, introduced in 2018 and facelifted in 2020 for the 2021 model year, features curves everywhere, from the hood and fenders to the tapering DLO (daylight opening, design-speak for side glass), and falling roofline. But its replacement, which could be introduced as a 2024 or 2025 car, appears to have ditched curves for crisp, straight lines.
Obviously we can’t see most of the details, including how the grille, fenders and the C-pillar will look, but it’s impossible not to draw the conclusion that Hyundai has about 60,000 pictures of various Land Rover products – mostly the current Defender – on a mood board in its design HQ.
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The current Santa Fe is available with two or three rows of seats in Europe where it is Hyundai’s largest SUV. But in North America it slots below the seven-seat Palisade and is only available with five chairs. Reports suggest this new one will switch to a newer platform, and grow larger to move it further away from its Tucson little brother.
We don’t know what’s under the hood, but this test car’s visible exhaust tailpipes confirm it will still be powered by combustion engines, which will probably include four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines and maybe the outgoing car’s 3.5-liter V6, plus a 1.6-liter plug-in hybrid variant. Buyers looking for a full electric SUV will have to wait for the Ioniq 7 that arrives around the same time, and which was previewed by the Seven concept first seen at the 2021 Los Angeles auto show.
