We love the Hyundai Santa Fe. In fact, we own a 2014 Santa Fe Sport ourselves. The crossover has gone through dramatic changes throughout its three generations, changing from an awkwardly designed small crossover to a bonafide near-luxury two and three-row flagship SUV for the brand (we don't count the awful Santa Cruz).
Now, Hyundai has released a teaser image of its upcoming fourth-generation 2019 Santa Fe crossover just before its official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The totally redesigned crossover should be a big leap forward from the already excellent 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe in terms of tech and design.
One look at the teaser image, and you can see that the overall shape has changed. The body looks both longer and more aggressive and sporty. The front end looks a bit like a VW Atlas, while the long roofline and creased sheet metal evoke the Mazda CX-9 and even a bit of Toyota Highlander.
There some deep set sculpting at the base of the doors, which should add a serious dose of styling to the crossover. The headlights look slimmer than the outgoing model, and the taillights extend further into the rear quarter panel. The uptick in the rear side window adds an element of style that wasn't present on the 3rd generation crossover. We certainly like what we see so far.
The rumor is that the new Santa Fe will get upgraded safety features like Hyundai's Smart Sense system with Rear Occupant Alert, which monitors the rear seats to detect passengers and can inform the driver when the passengers have exited the vehicle. There's also an upgraded Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning that adds automatic braking. This feature helps owners when there's limited visibility at low speeds.
The 2018 version, especially in top Limited Ultimate trim is one of the best-outfitted crossovers on the market, and it certainly looks and feels eons ahead of the first-generation version. We imagine that the 2019 version will take the crossover into new territory thanks to what looks like serious tech and a very attractive exterior. We'll show you the full reveal in Geneva this March.
