There’s a new-generation Hyundai Santa Fe on the way and it seems the all-new large SUV will take on a drastically different aesthetic – if these fresh renders out of Russia are any indication.
The talented Nikita Chuiko of Kolesa.ru has mocked up a trio of new digital images imagining what he thinks the new Santa Fe will look like, based on a series of spy images and videos that circulated out of Korea in August and September.
Whether you look at the renders or the spy shots they’re inspired by, it’s fair to say the next Santa Fe will be virtually unrecognisable as a Santa Fe when compared with its predecessor.
Gone are the rounded edges, squinty headlights and chintzy chrome grille – they’ve been replaced by butch square edges, a blockier front-end, rugged black cladding and corresponding black grille texture.
The macho new look makes the rendered Santa Fe look infinitely more capable than the current version, so much so it could almost be mistaken for a new Ford or Toyota off-roader.
Whether or not the next Santa Fe’s off-road chops will be given a booster shot in the arm remains to be seen, but if it we don’t expect Hyundai to turn its monocoque-based seven-seat family SUV into a Toyota Prado fighter.
Still, there looks to be plenty of ground clearance on offer and the noticeably taller cabin should yield a more commanding view of the road – perfect for negotiating tricky terrain… or shopping centre car parks.
At the back we find a full-height LED lighting signature clearly inspired by the current IONIQ range but little else if we’re being brutally honest; there are far fewer creases and curves on this supposed Santa Fe replacement.
Something we can be sure of is the H-shaped front lighting signature and rectangular shape of the grille, going by the Woopa TV YouTube video that served as one of the render’s source materials.
Kolesa.ru speculates the next-gen Hyundai Santa Fe will debut sometime next year, which is roughly in line with the brand’s typical product lifecycles.