Sadly, This Is How the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Will Look Like in Europe

The Palisade remains the three-row SUV of choice for Hyundai customers who want minivan practicality paired with an improved ride height. But for those among us who love what Hyundai is doing but also want to adventure in a remote place occasionally, the rugged-y all-new Santa Fe is undoubtedly a great proposition.

Even though it remains a tad bit smaller than the Palisade, the overhauled design breathes new life into the Santa Fe moniker and transforms it into a genuine rival for some posh SUVs with generous starting price points. If Hyundai manages to come up with a reasonable MSRP for this vehicle and suitable powertrains that won't be problematic, it might end up with a massive win on its hands.

Fortunately, it still has time to work all the quirks out. The 2024 Santa Fe is coming to North America and Europe in, well, 2024. South Koreans will get to order the first batch starting in September this year. We'll keep an eye on the country and see what owners have to say after they take delivery and put some miles on the odometer.

But until we learn about pricing and drivetrains available in North America, here's an interesting fact – the SUV will look different in Europe! It's going to miss one part.

This vehicle's "H" design is refreshing and very well outlined by the front-side view. The headlights and the front bumper contain an "H" that's easy to spot, which gives the Santa Fe a unique road presence.

But when it comes to illuminating the road and an instantly recognizable look, Hyundai decided to go for something bold. It united the two H-shaped daytime-running lights (DRLs) with a horizontal LED bar. That enhances the look and aligns the vehicle with current car design trends. It also tries to be a minimalistic reshuffle of what an off-road LED light bar should look like on an adventure-ready automobile.

Sadly, Europeans won't get to enjoy the new front look of the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe. Company executives told journalists from the Old Continent that the light bar didn't perform well in the Euro NCAP safety tests. The automaker decided to drop it altogether rather than reengineering it.

As such, Europeans (including the British) won't see the SUV with its complete, freshly modernized front look. But that doesn't take very much away from this vehicle's appeal. It will still have that masculine, rugged appearance, with all the interior practicality and the new features. Plus, the unique lighting signature with the lightbar has no practical role other than making the Santa Fe look better. The SUV will still look distinctive on European roads thanks to the H-shaped DRLs and its imposing body.

The slim light bar has also become a simple, yet clever way for some legacy automakers to differentiate their all-electric vehicles from gas- or diesel-powered ones. Maybe the all-new Santa Fe will boast an EV drivetrain at some point too! For now, however, what's certain is that a plug-in hybrid version will become available in most markets and that Americans and Canadians will enjoy a slightly better-looking 2024 Santa Fe.

Like the IIHS, Euro NCAP updated its testing procedure. Getting five stars out of five is more complicated in 2023. Automakers selling cars in Europe and looking for the highest safety rating possible must now install child presence detection systems, make sure that electronically-operated windows and doors open easily in case of submergence, and add advanced autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems for motorcyclists, pedestrians, cyclists. The AEB must also prevent head-on collisions.