Korean-built Hyundai Santa Fe to retain 8DCT
Reliability woes prompt a move to an eight-speed torque converter in North America, but not hereHyundai Australia has confirmed petrol versions its Korean-built Santa Fe large SUV will be sticking with the familiar eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission rather than switching to an eight-speed torque converter as per the North American versions.
The confirmation was made to carsales by a local spokesperson this week in the fall-out from an announcement in the US that the MY26 Santa Fe would adopt the Hyundai Group’s eight-speed automatic after a string of major recalls and failures of the eight-speed dual-clutch unit that’s also used in the Sonata sports sedan and i30 N performance range.
The most recent recall (July 2024) impacted more than 12,300 vehicles with an estimated defect rate of 100 per cent; the fault traced back to a faulty transmission control unit (TCU) software.
“The dual-clutch transmission in the subject vehicles could become damaged during normal operation due to transmission control unit software logic that could inadvertently engage the clutches and damage the transmission case and/or parking pawl,” the recall notice read.
“A damaged transmission case and/or parking pawl may cause noise within the transmission and/or allow for vehicle rollaway while in Park.”
The quick and preferred fix – pending an inspection – was a TCU software update, however plenty of vehicles were and are still being found to have physical damage and therefore need the entire transmission replaced.
In October 2022 there was a separate recall involving the transmission’s electric oil pump affecting more than 100,000 vehicles.
Some 8500 Australian Santa Fes (previous-gen), Sonatas, i30 Ns and Kona Ns were subsequently recalled in the months following, though the 2024 recall is yet to be actioned here.
A key difference between the North American and Australian Santa Fes is their manufacturing location: American and Canadian examples are built in Alabama while Aussie examples are sourced from Korea.
That said, the eight-speed dual-clutch currently used in both versions is produced by Hyundai Transys in Korea.
Hyundai USA has reportedly attributed the move away from the dual-clutch to the superior “drivability” of the torque converter as opposed to the former’s tainted rap sheet.
“For 2026, Santa Fe moves to a torque converter transmission,” a company spokesperson told Car and Driver.
“It became available in our development cycle, and we determined it provided ideal overall drivability for the Santa Fe driver moving forward.”
Hyundai Australia didn’t expand on its definitive clarification, only telling carsales there were “no plans to change Korean production to [the] 8AT”.
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