The Hyundai Santa Fe Thread

Why Hyundai SA has yet to lock in the new Santa Fe

Though Hyundai Automotive South Africa has ordered homologation units, it hasn’t confirmed the new Santa Fe for a local launch. Here’s why, according to the CEO…

In August 2024, Hyundai Automotive South Africa told us the new Santa Fe had been put “on the back burner” for the local market, adding that it is not currently “on the horizon”. Now, after catching up with the brand’s local boss, we know why.

Gideon Jansen van Rensburg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hyundai Automotive South Africa, was speaking to Cars.co.za during an interview conducted in a custom-built podcast booth at Naamsa’s South African Auto Week 2024 in Cape Town.

We asked him whether the new Santa Fe – which was unveiled globally in 5th-generation form back in July 2023, before the South Korean automaker revealed more details the following month – was still planned for South Africa.

“I wish I could answer that with great certainty. We’ve ordered homologation vehicles. In line with the global manufacturing policy, that vehicle is not available in diesel [for] South Africa,” Jansen van Rensburg told us.

Since the outgoing 4th-gen Santa Fe – local stock of which has seemingly almost run dry – is offered in Mzansi exclusively with an oil-burning motor, the lack of a turbodiesel engine in the new range is likely a significant driver of Hyundai Automotive SA’s apparent circumspection.

Still, that doesn’t mean the new Santa Fe is completely off the table for South Africa, with Jansen van Rensburg confirming the Korean firm’s local division has already sampled the new model in hybrid flavour (a form of powertrain not currently part of Hyundai Automotive SA’s broader line-up).

 
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