Hyundai Motor Company, the largest car maker of South Korea, unveiled its all-new Santa Fe at the 2012 New York International Auto Show on 5th April 2012. With this launch, the company represented its innovation on grounds of Fluidic design, unmatched fuel economy and advancements that deliver superior functionality and passenger comfort.
Mike O’Brien, Vice President, Corporate and Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America, said, “The all-new Santa Fe is a confident and highly capable crossover built for today’s family, with flexible space, premium interior amenities, outstanding performance courtesy of dramatic weight savings and segment-first technologies, impressive fuel economy and advanced safety.”
As far as exterior appearance of Santa Fe is concerned, the car flaunts a new design concept called 'Storm Edge', which combines dynamic and strong images that appear naturally when a storm rises. It boasts of urban style elements and futuristic design, which are complemented by its bold hexagonal front grille that gives it the characteristic Hyundai look.
Hyundai expects that the new Santa Fe will emerge as an excellent option for urban families since it has sleek dimensions, brilliant flexibility and potentials of a crossover but is suited to take care of the mobility needs of a family. It has a wheelbase of 2,700mm, with length of 4,690mm, width of 1,880mm and height of 1,680mm. In order to provide the all-new Santa Fe with a sporty look, it is supplemented with extended overhangs and low height. Since the car has a decent wheelbase and wide stance, it offers a spacious cabin wherein the seating arrangement is improved by lowering the hip point as well as ground clearance.
In terms of technical details, the new Santa Fe introduced in USA has two petrol engine options, namely 2.4 litre Theta II GDI four cylinder engine and 2.0 litre Theta II turbocharged engine. The former generates maximum power of 191 bhp and attains peak torque of 245 Nm. Although the motor of this car has decent power, it does not lag behind on the grounds of fuel economy and covers a distance of 9.7 kmpl on the city roads and 14.02 kmpl on highways.
On the other hand, the turbocharged engine churns out peak power of 265 bhp and produces highest torque of 365 Nm. Along with these brilliant capacities, this powertrain also delivers decent average of 9.3 kmpl in urban areas and 13.1 kmpl on highways. With GDI and turbocharger technologies, the engines of Santa Fe offer more power when compared with most of the competitors, which are equipped with V6 units.
In order to develop a consistent brand image, the company is planning to adopt a common naming policy for every model sold in different markets. Thus, the 'Santa Fe' name will be applied in all of Hyundai's auto markets. However, the names may be modified as per the domestic market. For example, it will be offered as Santa Fe Sport in USA's automotive market.
The new Santa Fe is expected to hit the Korean market soon, as the company received 3,000 orders on the first day of opening, an indication of the buyers' expectations with the new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). The new model will be put to sale in U.S. by the middle of this year and is likely to be promoted as an family SUV in the international market.
In a surprising move, the company also unveiled an extended version of its new Santa Fe at the end of event. This model has a longer wheelbase and seating arrangement for seven passengers in three rows. The extended wheelbase version will be introduced in the U.S. market from January 2013. This variant is more spacious and holds a bigger engine, thus catering to a larger family. The overall length, width and height of this vehicle are 4905 mm, 1885 mm and 1690 mm, respectively.
