Despite the dramatic camouflage meant to
hide everything bar the roof, what you see pictured here is a facelift of the
current Hyundai Santa Fe, so don’t expect anything drastic, just minor changes
from the popular mid-size SUV, in the visual department at least.
Starting from the front end and trying to
decipher what’s hidden behind the plastic cladding and thick camo, it seems
that the grille will grow in size while the split-headlight design will carry
over. The bumper design will be tweaked though. While the vehicle’s profile
will remain unchanged, the back end will receive a new pattern for the
taillights and the obligatory restyled bumper.
As the spies couldn’t get close enough to
snap some pictures of the interior, we can’t be certain about the changes.
Still, we’ve heard that we should be looking at a new infotainment system
software plus new upholstery and trim.
The biggest difference is understood to be
found under the hood, as the engine family will gain new hybrid and plug-in
hybrid versions. It’s still too early to talk about details, but we will remind
you that in North America, you can get the current Santa Fe with the 2.0 turbo
and 2.4-liter four-cylinder units, making 235 and 185 HP respectively. The
former should soldier on, though the latter could be dropped, as some reports
indicate. The refreshed Santa Fe is
believed to arrive either towards the end of the year or early next year, in
which case, it may get the 2022MY moniker.
