- The Hyundai Santa Fe is getting a styling update for 2021 that includes a bold new face and a nicer interior.
- Newly available features include a Terrain Mode selector and a larger touchscreen.
- The 2021 Santa Fe should go on sale in the U.S. by the end of this year.
Say hello to the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe, which looks considerably more interesting than before thanks to a styling refresh that brings a distinctive new grille design on board. The mid-size two-row SUV gets a freshened interior that parrots several cues from the larger Palisade's cabin, while also inheriting a few new features.
The new front end is dominated by the wider grille that can feature a few different patterns depending on trim level. A new lighting signature includes T-shaped LED daytime running lights. At the rear, there's now a thin LED lighting strip connecting the taillights, along with a new skid plate and reflector. These photos of the global model also show a more monochromatic color scheme than was previously available, although we don't know if that will be offered in the U.S.
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Inside, Hyundai has rearranged the Santa Fe's dashboard to look more like the three-row Palisade's. The company says the Santa Fe now offers nicer soft-touch materials, and the gearshift adopts a pushbutton layout. A 10.3-inch touchscreen is now available, as is a Terrain Response dial that adjusts tuning for the all-wheel-drive system in models so equipped. Hyundai hasn't shared details on U.S. powertrains, but we expect the 2.4-liter inline-four and turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four engines to continue. A hybrid may join the Santa Fe lineup eventually.
Expect to hear more U.S.-specific details about the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe within the next few months, as we expect this updated model to go on sale by the end of the year.
Despite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.
