The Hyundai Santa Fe will be updated just a year after arriving in local showrooms, adding to the already-confirmed hybrid variant due in early 2022.
Hyundai Australia product development manager, Tim Rodgers, said the company is finalising changes to the 2022 Santa Fe range outside of the introduction of hybrid options, with details to be announced in the coming months.
“There are some changes to the Santa Fe line-up coming outside of hybrid, which should be interesting. Hopefully we can talk about those soon,” Mr Rodgers said.
Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander
It’s unclear exactly what changes are in store for Hyundai’s seven-seat SUV, given there have been no major announcements from head office and the bulk of global features and options are already available in our market.
Options in the Korean market that aren’t offered locally include light grey and brown interior options for high-end models and a five-seat interior layout. Perhaps it will be as simple as enhancing the specification of lower-grade models in Australia.
Further to the as-yet unknown updates, Mr Rodgers said Hyundai Australia is yet to finalise whether the Santa Fe Hybrid will be offered in multiple trim levels or restricted to high-spec grades like the related Kia Sorento Hybrid. Dealers are already being inundated with customer enquiries months ahead of the model’s release.
“We’re still playing with that idea – it’s still being discussed,” he said.
“Every single one of those we bring in, we’re going to be able to sell pretty quickly. There’s quite high demand [for Santa Fe Hybrid], we’re already getting dealers’ doors knocked on for that car.”
Electrified rivals for the Santa Fe Hybrid include the Toyota Kluger Hybrid and the Kia Sorento Hybrid, as well as lower-grade versions of the Lexus RX450h.
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