Photo: Hyundai
The 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe has been coming for a long time. We received spy shots of the South Korean SUV showing the vehicle in all sorts of conditions, from the arctic snow to the colorful track at the Nurburgring, and we've even had a more recent rendering that we can now confirm was almost spot on.
Despite the time we've had to familiarize ourselves with the new model, seeing it in the first official pictures is still an important moment, and that's because it marks a huge departure from the previous generation. The Santa Fe has never been the kind of vehicle to capture anyone's attention with anything other than its price. Well, just look at it now.
We're not necessarily fans of Hyundai's design approach and we always thought its sister-company, Kia, had the upper hand when it came to the all-important aesthetics, but with the 2019 Sante Fe, we're starting to see its appeal.
It's a very muscular, manly-looking SUV, a design that'll surely go well with customers of both genders. After all, they can leave the cuteness for small city cars, and make these larger ones more worthy of respect. The thin headlights sure give it a frowny look, but there's also a touch of a hunting feline there. Oh my god, we've started talking like true designers now.
The "cascading grille" dominates the front fascia sporting a large-patterned mesh with the Hyundai logo in the middle. The fog lights and indicators are stacked in a pentagon-shaped cluster below the main headlights, but despite the layering it's not as obvious as with the Nissan Juke or the more recent Citroen models.
There are numerous creases along the reasonably long hood and one pronounced line that almost runs the entire length of the SUV on its side, defining its waistline. Since we only have two images to go by (one of the exterior and one of the interior), we can only imagine what the rear looks like. Expect similarly thin taillights and some more surface play.
The cabin feels like it's gone at least one level up the luxury scale, even though that central screen might seem a tad too small by today's standards. Hyundai has opted to position the infotainment display high up the dashboard (the correct choice, in our opinion), but it still features tons of buttons and two dials, keeping that "classic" feel of the 2010s.
At least there's a digital instrument cluster as well, so all the information vital to the driver is going to be displayed there (speed, turn-by-turn navigation, speed limits). We're not too crazy about the brown leather choice, but the cabin quality looks like it could hold its own against something like a Volkswagen for example.
Hyundai hasn't released a ton of information on the new model, and everything we have applies to the South Korean market. That being said, the 2019 Santa Fe gets 2.0- and 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel engines as well as a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline unit, all mated to eight-speed automatic transmissions. For the U.S., expect to see larger engines as well.
The 2019 Santa Fe is expected to have its U.S. debut next month at the New York Auto Show, which is when we should learn more about its presence in North America at the latest.
We're not necessarily fans of Hyundai's design approach and we always thought its sister-company, Kia, had the upper hand when it came to the all-important aesthetics, but with the 2019 Sante Fe, we're starting to see its appeal.
It's a very muscular, manly-looking SUV, a design that'll surely go well with customers of both genders. After all, they can leave the cuteness for small city cars, and make these larger ones more worthy of respect. The thin headlights sure give it a frowny look, but there's also a touch of a hunting feline there. Oh my god, we've started talking like true designers now.
The "cascading grille" dominates the front fascia sporting a large-patterned mesh with the Hyundai logo in the middle. The fog lights and indicators are stacked in a pentagon-shaped cluster below the main headlights, but despite the layering it's not as obvious as with the Nissan Juke or the more recent Citroen models.
There are numerous creases along the reasonably long hood and one pronounced line that almost runs the entire length of the SUV on its side, defining its waistline. Since we only have two images to go by (one of the exterior and one of the interior), we can only imagine what the rear looks like. Expect similarly thin taillights and some more surface play.
The cabin feels like it's gone at least one level up the luxury scale, even though that central screen might seem a tad too small by today's standards. Hyundai has opted to position the infotainment display high up the dashboard (the correct choice, in our opinion), but it still features tons of buttons and two dials, keeping that "classic" feel of the 2010s.
At least there's a digital instrument cluster as well, so all the information vital to the driver is going to be displayed there (speed, turn-by-turn navigation, speed limits). We're not too crazy about the brown leather choice, but the cabin quality looks like it could hold its own against something like a Volkswagen for example.
Hyundai hasn't released a ton of information on the new model, and everything we have applies to the South Korean market. That being said, the 2019 Santa Fe gets 2.0- and 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel engines as well as a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline unit, all mated to eight-speed automatic transmissions. For the U.S., expect to see larger engines as well.
The 2019 Santa Fe is expected to have its U.S. debut next month at the New York Auto Show, which is when we should learn more about its presence in North America at the latest.
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