The days of American consumers lamenting the Hyundai brand as nothing but cheap Toyota knockoffs have been long gone for almost 15 years now. It's as if around 2010, Korean car companies, Hyundai especially, realized they could build cars just as well as their Japanese counterparts.
The wings triumphant for the Hyundai brand in North America might as well come in the form of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade SUV. While the Pallasaides may not have been Hyundai's star attraction at the Jacob K Javits Center this year, it's safe to say it's what the brand expects to be their number one selling product in the U.S. Domestic market.
Hailing from the same size category as the Kia Telluride, Chevy Tahoe, and Ford Explorer makes for some of the stiffest competition in any market segment globally. But when the tarps were taken off what was to be revealed as the 2023 Palisade, the reaction from the press led us to believe people have more than a fair amount of faith in the Hyundai brand as an SUV maker.
Credit to them, Hyundai made an effort with the 2023 Palisade to differentiate itself from vehicles from Germany, the U.S., Japan, and even fellow South Korean automakers that occupy the same market space. The broad yet angular hood and front grille employ some truly classic SUV styling cues.
In an era where wacky-looking headlamps make crossover and full-sized SUVs look ugly on the regular, the modular arrangement of the LED headlamps and all their accompanying lights make for an interesting, unique front fascia. There's more traditional full-sized SUV boxy goodness to be had along the sides and back end of the new Palisade.
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
All these iconic SUV dimensions encapsulate a cabin that wouldn't feel out of place in a German or Japanese luxury car. Exact seating capacity numbers will depend on the exact trim package. The Limited and Calligraphy editions have second-row captain's chairs that take up room where the eighth seat sits in the SE and SEL models, reducing passenger room to seven souls.
There are enough features present on the new Hyundai Palisade to satisfy every occupant who finds themself inside. Prime among these is a 12-inch Apple Car Play and Android Auto compatible infotainment and navigation screen with Bluetooth connectivity and Sirius XM satellite radio compatibility as standard equipment. With seven USB ports present and the ability to connect two simultaneous Bluetooth devices at the same time while inside, this is the perfect family road trip machine.
Said road trip will have its miles consumed in earnest by a 3.8-liter V6 engine jetting 291 horsepower and enough torque to tow 5,000 pounds (2267.96 kg) comfortably with the dealer option tow hitch. It's good for Zero to 60 in 6.9 seconds and has an average fuel economy of 19 (12.4 l/100 km) in the city and 24 mpg (9.8 l/100 km) on the highway. Not great by any means, unless your idea of bad fuel economy is a 1980s Ford LTD.
With the price of 87 octane still hovering around $4.00 a gallon in most U.S. states, whoever takes ownership of one of these Hyundai SUVs is going to feel it at the pump, at least in the short term. But outside of shoddy fuel economy numbers, there's a lot to like when it comes to the new Palisade. Stepping into the driver's seat opens the door to a world of plush leather upholstery, crisply sharp LCD screens, and enough cupholders to constitute a small movie theater.
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
The inside of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade is a genuinely lovely place to sit. Especially when you consider what the interiors of Hyundai SUVs of old were like to sit in for even small lengths of time. In a year where the New York Auto Show had to reduce the number of brands on display due to health crisis restrictions, it was the perfect opportunity to give a few extra cubic feet of space to an SUV Hyundai expects to be their bread and butter.
With prices ranging from around $35,000 for the most basic base model to $42,000 for the brand new XRT package and up to $49,000 for the top-of-the-line Caligraphy Package, there's a trim level with the 2023 Palisade to fit just about anybody's budget.
But what are your thoughts on the new 2023 Hyundai Palisade? Is it just another big, bloated walrus of a family SUV, or is it the new hottest family hauler machine to come out of the 2020s? Let us know in the comments down below.
Google News