Hyundai Santa Fe - Ready To Make Inroads

You can see why Hyundai is making an increasingly larger impact on local sales charts. Attractive, well priced and increasingly cool, the Korean brand is making inroads in every segment it enters. At the recent launch of the new Santa Fe, company representatives even boldly stated that it is pulling sales from the ‘untouchable’ German trio (Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz), particularly in the compact SUV segment.

Hyundai Santa Fe

First impressions of the new Santa Fe are pleasing. Hyundai has incorporated the compact ix35s curves into the styling while still making it look like the beefier big brother it’s meant to be. The new family grille is a strong visual mark on the Santa Fe and if the latest Hyundai concepts are anything to go by (see the HCD 14), it is looking to accentuate this visage even further.

You can see why Hyundai is making an increasingly larger impact on local sales charts.

The three-model Santa Fe range starts with the front-wheel drive five-seat Premium (R 434 900), in the middle is the all-wheel drive seven-seat Executive (R 459 900) and the range topper is the AWD Elite seven-seater that features a full panoramic roof, heated seats and an automatic hill hold feature for R 499900. All models are particularly spacious inside with most of the materials feeling premium but not tacky. As usual Hyundai specs all its vehicles highly, but I noticed the Santa Fe was missing a navigation system (Hyundai says if requested it will fit an aftermarket module that fits into the facia), and there is no Bluetooth connectivity either. But again the company is working on bringing in a system at no extra charge if the customer requests one. Under the bonnet only one engine derivative is available throughout the range, a 145kW 2.2 liter turbo diesel that runs only on 50ppm low-sulphur fuel. Peak torque is a strong 436Nm that plateaus between 1800 and 2 200rpm. It’s a very smooth, torquey engine and works imperceptibly with the six speed automatic transmission.

Hyundai Santa Fe - Inside

Santa Fe boasts Hyundai’s five-year/150 000km warranty, five-year/150000km roadside assistance and a five-year/90000km service contract. Service intervals are 15000km. The new Santa Fe is very difficult to fault – it’s spacious, drives well, has a decent drivetrain and is priced competitively. Expect to see loads of these on your school run soon.

As usual Hyundai specs all its vehicles highly but I noticed the Santa Fe was missing a navigation system