Reported by Sang Yup Lee, Head of Global Design for Hyundai and Genesis
Hyundai is refining the new Santa Fe crossover with a radical new approach. The latest model offers a “square” design and a more upscale interior.
Spy photographers have already snapped several shots of the prototype being tested, and Sang Yup Lee, head of global design at Hyundai and Genesis, spoke about the upcoming crossover in an interview with MotorTrend. Sang Yup Lee, who recently won the 2023 Automotive Person of the Year award, said the next-generation Santa Fe was not built in the traditional way.
As he explained, “People buy SUVs for the cargo space in the back,” so they designed the new model around that idea. In particular, this applies to the interior: the designers started with the trunk, and then moved forward. This is the exact opposite of what usually happens when designing a car.
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe is not being built in the traditional way.
Sang Yup Lee confirmed that the gear selector would be moved to the steering column, and the icon on the steering wheel would be replaced with four dots – that’s the letter H in Morse code. The new Santa Fe will also get a curved digital instrument cluster and infotainment system, thin Palisade-style air vents and a climate control unit with a digital display.
From the outside, the Santa Fe looks like a cross between a Land Rover Defender and a Discovery. The prototypes are still heavily disguised, but it is clear that they have chopped forms.
Sang Yup Lee added that the new model will have a “seamless horizontal canopy” similar to the Sonata and Grandeur. On the sides of the LED strip there will be two vertical stripes, which together with it visually form the shape of a wide letter H.
