For 22 years, the Hyundai Santa Fe has had a familial, handsome design. One that blends nicely with its environment in the same way you politely mingle at a dinner party. Courteous but unobtrusive; interesting but not exactly outspoken.
For its 23rd year, the Hyundai Santa Fe is boldly going, well, bold. Off are the derbies and polo shirt; on are the hiking boots and adventure vest. It’s still called Santa Fe, but you wouldn’t know it without seeing that name emblazoned in all caps across the back.
For its fifth generation, Hyundai’s longest-running SUV nameplate undergoes a seismic change in design and attitude. Gone are the curves it’s had since debuting in 2001. Now the Santa Fe is a buffed-up box akin to a rugged SUV of yore.
Some of the Same, Much of the Different
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe is slated to go on sale in the first quarter of next year. Hyundai hasn’t released pricing yet, but for context, know that the current 2023 Santa Fe starts at $28,750. We estimate this new one, with a more powerful standard engine, will be a few thousand higher.
At launch, the Santa Fe will be available with a 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine or a hybrid 1.6-liter turbo 4-cylinder. Those powertrains make 281 and 226 horsepower, respectively, in 2023 models. A plug-in hybrid Santa Fe will be available in global markets, and one could presume it will return to the U.S. at some point for this new generation.
In this respect, there are similarities under the hood to the soon-to-be-outgoing Santa Fe. Elsewhere, the differences are as stark as its transformed exterior design. Let’s begin inside.
The current Santa Fe is a 2-row midsize SUV that competes with models like the Honda Passport and Ford Edge. For 2024, the Santa Fe will be available with three rows, making it a true baby brother to the Palisade.
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe’s interior is roomier and more well-appointed than the current model, something we saw with our eyes and felt with our fingertips at the Santa Fe’s world debut in — can you guess? — Santa Fe, New Mexico.
An Interior You Can Sleep In
At its debut, Hyundai executives touted the Santa Fe’s new mantra of “Open for More,” literally and figuratively. And how the designers started from the rear of the vehicle. To that end, the 2024 Santa Fe features a huge tailgate that creates an equally large opening (the word “aperture” was bandied about). It also has second- and third-row seats that fold nearly flat. Open the power tailgate, fold the seats, and suddenly you have a vehicular living room. “The SUV as a home,” as one Hyundai exec remarked.
Yes, Hyundai has created and is marketing the new Santa Fe as not just an urban runner but an SUV that gets back to what SUVs originally did: Take people beyond the city limits and enable them to stay out there for a while. No, you likely won’t be going as off the trail as you would in the equally blocky new Toyota Land Cruiser, but to that end, Hyundai does have something up its sleeve — more on that in a bit.
Regardless of where you find yourself, Hyundai says the 2024 Santa Fe will have class-leading cargo capacity in back, space you can use for gear or — oh, why not? — sleeping.
Speaking of resting, the Santa Fe offers a “Relaxation Seat” with a leg rest, a feature also seen in top grades of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric car. In that vehicle, the idea is the driver can chill while the car juices up at a charging station.
Other Novel Ideas
Interior tech in the new Santa Fe impresses with what Hyundai calls a “first-in-class” Panoramic Curved Display combining dual 12.3-inch screens — one acting as a digital instrument cluster, the other handling infotainment duties.
A dual wireless charging cradle is another nice touch — now you don’t have to fight your friend to charge a phone. And here’s something unexpected, and that speaks to the Santa Fe’s design work taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic: It offers a built-in UV-C sanitizer tray. Designers say the thinking was it could sanitize face masks back then and now could just as easily work its magic on something like a baby’s teething toy.
Of course, all the expected safety tech is on board, too, including the latest version of Hyundai’s Highway Driving Assist, which can pace a vehicle ahead, stay within lane markings, and even assist with lane changes.
But Wait, There’s More!
Hyundai officials were barely done removing the curtain of the 2024 Santa Fe when they motioned to yet another model up on a hill. One that looked like it could go quite a bit farther off the beaten path: the Santa Fe XRT concept, seen above.
Festooned with extra body cladding, knobby tires, a massive roof rack, and other off-road accoutrements, it’s just an exercise for now. But if the Santa Fe is truly morphing from an errand runner to an adventure-ready utility vehicle, it looks to be a sign of what’s to come.
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe will mark its North American debut at the LA Auto Show in November, where yet more details should emerge about Hyundai’s buffed-up new hauler.
