New Hyundai Santa Fe Coming To India; Will Rival Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour

With the rising popularity for premium SUVs, Hyundai is likely to bring back the Santa Fe to India. Puneet Anand, senior general manager of marketing for Hyundai Motor India Ltd., has confirmed that Hyundai’s flagship SUV should be making its way to the Indian car market soon. The third generation Santa Fe was pulled out of production in India in 2017 due to low sales figures.

Anand said, “As I've always said, we are a full range manufacturer, right from the Eon to the Tucson. We have the complete range but we are also very conscious that the Indian consumer is a very very thorough and knowledged customer. So, we have always given the product to the customer which is fresh, which is vibrant and which echoes with his needs and desires, whether it is globally or in India. Since the new Santa Fe is already launched globally, we are very sure in times to come, the same Santa Fe will finally make it to India.”

The fourth-gen Hyundai Santa Fe made its public debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show earlier in 2018. Like the previous generation, it is based on a monocoque chassis. On the design front, it is a radical departure from the last gen model and is bigger overall. With a new generation comes better features as well, which include twin projector headlamps with LED daytime running lamps (DRLs) and cornering lights on the bumper. The 2019 Santa Fe will be equipped with 18- or 19-inch wheels with the option of 233/55-cross section tyres while the now-defunct India-spec Santa Fe’s 18-inch wheels were wrapped in the 235/60 section units. The rear tail lamps remain the same LED units.

On the inside, you get a clutter-free dashboard design which houses an 8-inch touchscreen unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging and dual fast charging ports for second-row passengers. You also get an 8-inch heads-up display with 10-way power adjustable front seats.

Globally, the Santa Fe gets the option of a 2.0-litre and a 2.2-litre diesel engine along with a 2.4-litre petrol engine. For India, its likely to get the 2.2-litre diesel engine (200PS/440Nm) which should help it fend off competition from its primary rivals. Given the premium placement, the Santa Fe could receive an 8-speed automatic transmission and an optional H-TRAC AWD system as well.

The prices of the previous-gen Santa Fe ranged from Rs 27 lakh to Rs 32 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Hyundai is likely to bring the Santa Fe through the CKD (completely knocked down) route, so expect the prices to stay in the same ballpark.

At that price, it will lock horns with SUVs like the Honda CR-V, Volkswagen Tiguan and the Skoda Kodiaq. It is also expected to rival ladder-frame SUVs like the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour. Hyundai is planning to offer eight new cars and SUVs in India in the near future.

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Source: cardekho.com