Hyundai India has been testing the 2013 Santa Fe for nearly a year now. However, the Korean carmaker has shown no signs of launching its flagship product (for India) this year. According to Overdrive, Hyundai will launch the new Santa Fe in February 2014 at a price that will undercut the Toyota Fortuner, which is currently the segment king.
Overdrive says that Hyundai India will locally assemble the Santa Fe out of CKD kits (Completely Knocked Down), and will hence achieve a price of about INR 22 lakhs for the entry-level, two-wheel drive model.
Hyundai is sure to retain its current strategy of offering the SUV strictly with a diesel engine. While European markets get the Santa Fe with a choice of a 2.0-liter CRDI and a 2.2-liter CRDI, the company may only use the more powerful motor for India, according to the report.
Producing 195 PS, the 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine will be available with a manual and an automatic gearbox. While the automatic will be available with both, front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations, the manual will be restricted to the 2WD model only.
The Santa Fe has only seen luke-warm sales in India, and the model is a huge success in American and European markets. Cumulative sales of the Santa Fe in US crossed the 1 million mark in August this year.
We expect Hyundai to show the Santa Fe at the upcoming Auto Expo, which commences for the media on February 5, 2014.
