Hyundai Unveils U.S.-Market Specs for 2024 Santa Fe

The 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show is the American public’s first chance to see the new 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe in person. Showgoers will be forgiven for wondering what this Land Rover is doing in a sea of Hyundais, but whether or not it appears to, rest assured it belongs. After revealing the redesigned SUV in July, Hyundai has now unveiled more specifications for the U.S.-market version.

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Just look at that rectilinear nose. It appears to have been designed entirely with the square-draw tool in Microsoft Paint, an impression that carries through to the tail, where H-shaped taillights mirror the daytime running lamps up front. Even the fender arches are squared off. It seems as if the only thing Hyundai bent in designing the new Santa Fe is space.

Land of Confusion

Into an overall package just 1.8 inches longer than its predecessor, Hyundai has managed to squeeze in a third row of seating and an extra 4.1 cubic feet of cargo room, per manufacturer specs. Front-row occupants lose 2.7 inches of legroom, which doesn’t seem like quite enough of a sacrifice to accommodate a third row and an enlarged cargo area, especially considering the second row eats up 0.6 inch more compared to the outgoing Santa Fe. Yes, it’s taller by 2.4 inches in the base trim with the roof rack and loftier still in the upscale Calligraphy and XRT trims, but vertical space isn’t legroom when you’re seated. Spend too much time puzzling over the dimensions of the boxy new Santa Fe and you’ll start to question the reliability of numbers.

More familiar is the powertrain; the reinvented exterior is hiding familiarity under that Minecraftian hood. Gone is the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine; the standard engine is now the previously optional turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder that’s mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It returns for duty down 4 horsepower to 277 hp, but it makes the same 311 pounds-feet of torque as before. The hybrid powertrain likewise carries over, pairing a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder with an electric motor for total output of 232 hp and 271 pounds-feet; it gets a six-speed automatic. We expect front- and all-wheel drive to remain available.

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Luxury and Safety Tech

Peruse the features list and you’re plunged back into a land of confusion. The more-spacious-but-not-much-longer Santa Fe boasts an available Relaxation Comfort front passenger seat with a leg rest and power-reclining second-row captain’s chairs, as well as a 12-speaker Bose sound system, Hyundai’s Digital Key 2 (which allows owners to use a paired smartphone as a key) and a digital rearview mirror that uses a camera to give the driver a clear view out the back even if their active-lifestyle gear is packed to the ceiling. If the terrain in the land of confusion is as rugged as we imagine, you’ll want to be in the XRT trim, which has nearly 1.5 inches more ground clearance than other trims, rides on 30-inch all-terrain tires and has a 4,500-pound towing capacity when equipped with the available towing package.

A pair of 12.3-inch screens form Hyundai’s Panoramic Curved Display on the dashboard, one for the instrument cluster and the other a touchscreen for the multimedia system. In addition to 11 paint options, the Santa Fe will be available with four interior colors: black, gray, brown and green.

There’s nothing new on the list of standard and available safety features, but that’s because the Santa Fe already makes use of a lot of tech available today. Hyundai hasn’t confirmed yet exactly what systems will be standard and which will be options, but we can safely guess that standard equipment will include forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, driver attention warning, lane-centering assist, blind spot monitors, and rear cross-traffic alert. Highway Driving Assist, which combines adaptive cruise control with lane-centering assist, will be available, as will front and rear parking sensors, safe exit assist, a 360-degree camera system and automated parking.

Pricing and Release Date

Hyundai hasn’t announced pricing yet, but that information should be coming soon. The reimagined 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe will go on sale in March 2024, and the hybrid version will hit dealership lots in the spring.

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