Hyundai Motor Company established a goal to sell 100,000 ‘Santa Fe (project name: TM)’, which is its mid-sized SUV that will be released next month, in 2018. In recent times, Grandeur IG (excluding commercial vehicles) is the only car that Hyundai Motor Company was able to sell more than 100,000 units. Hyundai Motor Company is planning to achieve its sales goal for domestic markets in 2018 (701,000) through its new Santa Fe.
According to Hyundai Motor Company on the 24th, Hyundai Motor Company started pre-commitment contract for its new Santa Fe starting from this month and it will release new Santa Fe in South Korean markets next month. Hyundai Motor Company started initial production of new Santa Fe from its Ulsan Plant #2 since the 15th of this month.
Hyundai Motor Company intends to sell about 10,000 units of Santa Fe every month this year in order to achieve its goal. After third generation model (project name: DM) was released in 2012, Santa Fe has maintained its ‘throne’ in South Korean markets for mid-sized SUVs. Although many problems such as water leakage, fabrication of mileage, and influx of exhaust gas occurred from third generation Santa Fe during its early days since its release, it was recorded as the model that was sold most out of South Korean SUVs in 2015 as Hyundai Motor Company sold 92,928 units of Santa Fe.
However its sales volume started to be lower than that of Kia Motors’ ‘Sorento’ since 2016. Kia Motors sold 80,715 units of Sorento, which made it number one in domestic sales out of South Korean SUVs, in 2016, and it sold 78,458 units of Sorento in 2017 that is about 26,000 units more than sales volume of Santa Fe in 2017. It is heard that Hyundai Motor Company internally selected Sorento as the biggest competitor to new Santa Fe as a result.
New Santa Fe will be released as a full change model that did not take place since 6 years ago. Hyundai Motor Company is expecting that new Santa Fe will change standards for mid-sized SUVs as it will be equipped with many advanced technologies and luxury options that had been only applied to luxury vehicles.

Photo Image
<Spy shot of Hyundai Motor Company’s fourth generation mid-sized SUV ‘Santa Fe’ >

New Santa Fe will be the first Hyundai Motor Company’s SUV to be installed with HDA (Highway Driving Assist), which is currently applied to only luxury vehicles such as all Genesis models and Grandeur IG. It is also equipped with FHD (Full HD) camera for precise control of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistant Systems) and its HUD (Head-Up Display) is directly shown on windshield unlike KONA that uses combiner method.
Size of new Santa Fe will be bigger than that of current Santa Fes. Its internal space and trunk space will be bigger due to increased wheelbase. Its design will be similar to that of KONA that was released last year. It will have LED daylight running lights at the top and separable lamps that position each head lamps at the bottom. This design will be applied to every Hyundai Motor Company’s SUVs from now on. Hyundai Motor Company installed a large cascading grille at the front of new Santa Fe in order to emphasize Hyundai Motor Company’s identity.
New Santa Fe will be equipped with three engines such as R2.0 e-VGT, R2.2 e-VGT, and 2.0 T-GDI. Its diesel engine is equipped with ‘Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)’ device, which injects urea, in order to meet Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP)’s standards on exhaust gas. New Santa Fe will also have improved driving performance and mileage as it is equipped with 8-speed automatic transmission and it will provide more excellent steering feel than current ‘C-MDPS (Column-type Motor Driver Power Steering)’ as it is equipped with ‘R-MDPS (Rack-mounted MDPS)’.
“New Santa Fe along with Grandeur IG is a model that will lead Hyundai Motor Company’s domestic markets in 2018.” said a representative for Hyundai Motor Company. “It will subdue its competitions from markets for mid-sized SUVs with its aggressive design, high-tech functions, and excellent driving performance.”
Staff Reporter Ryu, Jongeun | rje312@etnews.com

Photo Image
<■Annual sales of Santa Fe and Sorento in South Korea ▲Santa Fe ∆2012: 68,382 ∆2013: 78,772 ∆2014: 77,689 ∆2015: 92,928 ∆2016: 76,917 ∆2017: 51,661 ▲Sorento ∆2012: 35,002 ∆2013: 29,168 ∆2014: 32,397 ∆2015: 67,559 ∆2016: 80,715 ∆2017: 78,458 >