Hyundai Santa Fe moves up in price, tech

Hyundai Australia has revealed full details of its 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe now arriving in showrooms, with the large SUV bringing a new look, more technology and higher levels of safety than ever before.

The Hyundai Santa Fe line-up continues with upgraded versions of the all-wheel drive 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine and front-wheel drive 3.5-litre V6 petrol, but will be joined by a fuel-saving 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol-electric hybrid option in the second half of 2021.

Pricing has moved up in accordance with major changes wrought across the range, particularly at the upper end, with the newly-named ‘Santa Fe’ petrol variant now opening proceedings at $44,700 plus on-road costs (+$710) and the Highlander diesel remaining the top-shelf model at $65,200 plus ORCs – $3540 more than before. See our full pricing table below.

Just as the larger Hyundai Palisade enters the market this month, the Korean car-maker has made extensive changes inside and out to its Santa Fe seven-seater, staking its claim next to rivals such as the Mazda CX-9, Skoda Kodiaq and, not least of all, the new-generation (and related) Kia Sorento.

The new Santa Fe is easily identified by its fresh front-end design, the wide gaping grille almost spanning the entire width of the SUV and engulfing multi-reflector LED headlights with unique T-shaped daytime running lights (DRLs) that have a separate housing for the horizontal section.

At the rear there’s also a similarly-themed tail-light design, along with a full-width reflective strip.

Cabin highlights include a new bridge-style centre console with a rotary-style gear shifter and a vertical wireless charging pad that can swapped out for a storage cubby.

It’s also more spacious on the inside, growing 15mm in length, 10mm in width and 5mm in height compared to outgoing model. Hyundai says this equates to a 39mm increase in legroom for second-row passengers as well as more boot space.

On the powertrain front, both the petrol and diesel ‘SmartStream’ engines are said to deliver improved mid-range power and benefit from lighter components.

There is little change in output, the 2.2 CRDi producing 148kW/440Nm – just 1kW more power and the same torque – but the diesel engine does pick up a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and Hyundai’s latest HTRAC all-wheel drive system that is said to provide improved traction by variably sending drive to each wheel, based on wheel and vehicle speed inputs.

Fuel consumption in the diesel is also down markedly, from 7.5L/100km to 6.1L/100km.

The 3.5-litre V6 petrol now develops less power and torque – 200kW (-6kW) and 330Nm (-6Nm) – and has slightly better economy, down just 0.1L/100km to 10.5L/100km.

Towing capacity has been bumped up to 2500kg braked (previously 2000kg) and the tow ball can be loaded up with 200kg instead of the previous model’s 100kg.

Every Santa Fe will also now come with a full-size spare tyre and, like other Hyundai products, has had its suspension specifically tuned for Australian road conditions.

It’ll now cost a little more to service upon reaching yearly/15,000km intervals, with petrol-powered models priced at $399, and diesels at $459 for the first five workshop visits with Hyundai’s iCare plan.

New standard features on the base-spec Santa Fe include a bigger 8.0-inch infotainment touch-screen, a wireless phone charger and auto up/down anti-pinch windows.

Extra driver assistance tech on board includes forward collision avoidance assist with a new junction turning assist feature, lane following assist and multi-collision braking.

Next up the line, Active variants – now starting from $48,300 plus on-road costs – pick up shift-by-wire technology that replaces the conventional transmission lever with console buttons and steering-mounted paddle shifters, while diesel models gain Terrain Drive Modes (Snow, Mud and Sand).

Priced from $54,300 plus ORCs, Elite variants now have 20-inch alloy wheels, a dark chrome grille insert, a larger 10.25-inch touch-screen infotainment system with digital radio, a premium Harman Kardon sound system and USB port for the third row.

Flagship Highlander models, now starting at $61,700 plus ORCs, go some way to justifying the big pricing jump by adding unique machine-faced 20-inch alloys, body-coloured wheel-arch trim, softer Nappa leather trim (in black or beige), 64-colour ambient interior mood lighting and a 12.3-inch full-LCD instrument cluster.

There’s also a host of extra driver-assist tech including parking collision avoidance assist (when reversing), blind-spot view monitor, surround view monitor and remote start parking assist – a feature that recently debuted on the 2020 Kia Sorento.

Eight exterior colour choices include standard options of Glacier White, White Cream and Lagoon Blue. Premium choices ($695 cost option) include Typhoon Silver, Magnetic Force, Phantom Black, Taiga Brown and Rain Forest.

How much does the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe cost?
Santa Fe petrol V6 – $44,700
Santa Fe diesel AWD – $48,200
Active petrol V6 – $48,300
Active diesel AWD – $51,800
Elite petrol V6 – $54,300
Elite diesel AWD – $57,800
Highlander petrol V6 – $61,700
Highlander diesel AWD – $65,200
*Prices exclude on-road costs