The Santa Fe made its India debut very late. In fact, it was so late that the company was already working on new model as it was being launched in India. The current Santa Fe that we see running on the roads was launched way back in 2006 at North American International Auto and a mild facelift followed in 2010
MotorTrend confirms that the new Santa Fe will make its international debut at the 2012 New York Motor Show this April. The new Santa Fe codenamed (ix45) will don the fluidic design that was recently adopted by Hyundai worldwide. It will also have a lot of technology packed in it donated by the new Sonata. It will be powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol engine producing 274-horses and a Euro6 2.0-liter diesel engine rated at 150HP.
Back home, the Santa Fe is imported as a CBU in India thus the sticker price is very expensive. Hyundai India wanted to test the waters with the Santa Fe and it seems they have received a good response. Hyundai may choose to bring the new Santa Fe through the CKD route to drop the prices and gain volumes.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show this year, Hyundai revealed an important model for the Indian market. The brand new 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe will come to India next year, but if you are reading this from Korea, you can take a look at it in the nearest dealer showroom.
The facelifted Santa Fe sports a handful of retouches new bumpers, reshaped front grille, new front fog lights and redesigned head and tail lights.
Look at those twin exhaust pipes!
Hoping to corner a market share, Hyundai have also changed a lot of things inside – a new instrument panel, a navigation system and a rear view camera is now available as an option.
Under the hood sits the new 2.2-liter CRDi turbo unit that produces 197 horsepower and 422 Nm of torque between 1,800 and 2,500 rpm. This is what we Indians will hopefully get albeit lower power and torque ratings.
This engine is coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission and allows to do the zer0 to sixty run in 9.5 seconds, with a top speed of 190 km/h.
The 2.4-liter petrol unit that develops 174 horsepower and is mated to a manual transmission (a 6-speed automatic gearbox offered as an option) might not appeal to Indians as much as the diesel.
