Hyundai appears to be readying a radical redesign for the Santa Fe, as evidenced by a prototype recently spotted in the wild.
The Santa Fe is Hyundai’s oldest SUV nameplate and the current fourth-generation model is a top seller for the brand, with almost 120,000 sold in the U.S. alone in 2022.
The prototype points to a much boxier design for the new generation of the five-seat mid-size SUV, which should arrive later this year as a 2024 model.
The new Santa Fe is expected to be more of a heavy update of the outgoing model than a ground-up redesign. That’s because Hyundai swapped the Santa Fe to a new platform for the 2020 model year.
That was when fellow Hyundai Motor Group brand Kia launched a redesigned version of the related Sorento on the new platform. Kia is currently testing prototypes for an updated Sorento, which is expected to arrive alongside the new Santa Fe, also as a 2024 model.
It isn’t clear what’s planned for the powertrains, but most of the outgoing model’s options should carry over, perhaps with tweaks to performance or efficiency, or both. This means the updated model should get the choice of turbocharged or naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engines, including in hybrid and plug-in hybrid configurations.
