On Thursday, Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker by sales, declared that it is aiming to sell 28,000 units of the brand-new Santa Fe SUV this year after its planned launch later this month. The company has set the domestic sales goal for this year and plans to increase the Santa Fe SUV’s domestic sales figure to 70,000 units next year.
The new Santa Fe will be released in the U.S. and Europe in the first quarter of 2024. Hyundai Motor’s Vice President in charge of domestic marketing, Kim Yoon-soo, said at the SUV’s unveiling event that the company is planning to sell 16,000 units in Europe and 135,000 units in the U.S. next year.
The new Santa Fe will be available with a 2.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine or a 1.6 turbocharged gasoline hybrid engine, Hyundai said in a statement. The prices will be unveiled later this month.
The fifth-generation Santa Fe is a full-change model from the fourth-generation one released in 2018. It comes with a maximized rear cargo capacity in line with the latest outdoor lifestyle trends. Hyundai’s styling chief Simon Loasby said, “Big data suggested that the outdoor lifestyle was going to become mainstream culture, and during Covid this lifestyle change was even further amplified. And we needed to respond to that change.”
The new Santa Fe is an SUV that finds a perfect balance between the city and the great outdoors. With its longer wheelbase, roomy interior and terrace-like tailgate space, it leans into its SUV strengths to offer a premium customer experience, Hyundai said. H-shaped headlamps harmonize with the H-motif front bumper design and H-shaped taillights. The H-shaped elements reinterpret Hyundai’s “H” emblem. The interior design underlines horizontal and vertical lines, with an H-motif design also applied to the dashboard and air vents to create a unique sensibility. The fully foldable second- and third-row seats provide “class-leading” interior space.
Santa Fes assembled in Korea are for domestic sales and exports, while Santa Fes for U.S. sales are to be produced at Hyundai’s Alabama plant.