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| The 2021 year-model Santa Fe looking sweet in the sugar cane. |
The boss at Hyundai Automotive South Africa, Stanley Anderson, was all smiles at the introduction of the fourth generation Santa Fe in Umhlanga yesterday, and with good reason.
As SA’s third largest vehicle seller after Volkswagen and Toyota, Hyundai has been growing in the passenger, SUV and crossover segments in a year that saw overall sales shrink. On top of this, in the bakkie segment, where the Korean brand competes with only the H100, Anderson said first quarters sales are up to 878 units from 750 in 1Q20.
Economists view sales of commercial vehicles as a harbinger of economic times to come and Anderson said the rising sales of not only the H100 but all bakkies, show that SA’s economy is recovering fast from the lockdown.
He hopes this recovery will lead to well-healed customers buying Hyundai’s flagship SUV, the Santa Fe, in droves.
Anderson said he opted to import only two derivatives to South Africa — the R2.2 Executive with an upgraded turbodiesel engine and new 8-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT); and the R2.2 Elite, also with the 2,2-litre turbo-diesel and 8-speed DCT, but with All-Wheel Drive and several more luxury features. Both derivatives are seven-seaters, and with the two seats in the third row folded away, the cargo compartment swallows 634 litres.
With Anderson fully expecting owners to take their Santas into the wild, all models come with a full size spare wheel tucked under the third row of seats.
The Executive rides on 18-inch alloys, while the Elite comes with 19- or 20-inch wheels with a different design.
Inside
The interior continues Hyundai’s sleek exterior design lines, with a new floating centre console that features a slot for induction charging of the latest generation in phones and — shining in their absence — a handbrake and gear lever.
To engage the Sante Fe’s DCT, the driver presses one button: R for reverse or D for drive, with another button placed behind the steering wheel in front of the right knee to operate the digital parking brake. Apart from these buttons, the centre console also contains buttons for automatic climate control, a selector knob for the drive modes and, in the Elite derivative, terrain modes for the all-wheel drive system.
An 8-inch infotainment system display, with touchscreen functions, provides hands-free convenience with Bluetooth connection to a cellphone, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. The long list of convenience features include paddle shift gear levers on the steering wheel, rear window curtains and a ventilated driver’s seat linked to the climate control.
The raft of safety features include Rear Cross-Traffic Warning, which monitors the blind spot when reversing, as well as Safe Exit Assist, which issues a warning and keeps the door locked to ensure child safety when a rear occupant attempts to open the rear door while the there is a vehicle approaching from the rear. A rear-view camera can be activated while driving forward to monitor trailer behaviour.
Under the hood
The new Sante Fe shows how far SUV design has come in the 20 years since the first generation’s launch in 2000.
For a start, the engine is smaller but more powerful. Instead of the rather lumbering V6 with a torque converter in 2000, a fuel-sipping 2,2-litre turbo-diesel now makes 148 kW and 441 Nm, with the power going to the rear or all four wheels via an eight-speed Dual Clutch Transmission.
Together with a stiffer, lighter chassis riding on MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link setup at the back, the Santa Fe has spirited acceleration and it stayed between the lines in tight corners, with none of the understeer expected from such a big vehicle.
We drove the vehicle on KZN’s back roads with its all but invisible high speed humps and Wheels can testify the brakes also work very well when it comes to slowing down fast for these sump-breakers.
We did not get a chance to put the sand modes of the Terrain Mode selector to the test, but based on the prowess of the first generation Sante Fe, which we tested over dirt roads in the North West, we are confident the new model’s sand mode will easily traverse any sandy dune.
The all-wheel drive model also offers driving modes for snow and mud, as well as Comfort, Sport and Eco driving modes on tar. An additional driving mode option, Smart, automatically selects a mode.
Pricing and competitors
The Santa Fe R2.2 Executive lists for R769 500 and the Elite goes for R869 500. Anderson pointed out that few other big SUVs can match the Santa Fe’s standard specification and added that buyers of the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Everest, as well as the German brands, will find the big Korean very good value by comparison.
The prices include a seven-year or 200 000 km manufacturer’s warranty; a six-year or 90 000 km service plan; and roadside assistance over a period of seven years or a distance of 150 000 km.
