Hyundai Santa Fe XRT Concept makes debut

Along with the 2024 Santa Fe, Hyundai Motor Company has also introduced the Santa Fe XRT Concept, which has been specifically designed for the needs of outdoor enthusiasts. It has been built to be able to tackle extreme terrains with confidence and ease, and offer versatile utility for various outdoor needs of customers. However, the OEM currently has no plans for the mass production of this concept.

The XRT Concept comes with many off-road tweaks on the body such as chunkier tyres, lifted suspension and many off-road accessories. It looks more rugged and boxy than the standard Santa Fe as Hyundai goes big on its off-roading capabilities. Though exact details of the tweaks made on the XRT Concept aren't available, it is visible that there are many underbody changes such as improved approach and departure angles.

Outdoor accessories include beefed-up roof rack with a cargo carrier and a spare tyre as well as a ladder on the rear tailgate. There are cargo boxes mounted on the rearmost side windows of the XRT Concept, making it look similar to the Land Rover Defeneder.

Coming to the 2024 version of the standard Santa Fe, it gets a revamped design language for the fifth generation. It will be offered with multiple engine options in the global market. Hyundai has not yet officially announced the launch of the new Santa Fe for the Indian market. The SUV was discontinued in India back in 2017.

The biggest change on the 2024 Santa Fe is its new design, which is boxy and bold. The OEM has used ‘H’-shaped lighting elements which, which seems to be inspired from the Exter. At the rear, the tailgate is now quite wide with horizontally stacked LED tail lamps that also form an ‘H’.

It is powered by a 2.5-litre turbocharged engine, a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated engine, a 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid engine or a 1.6-litre turbocharged plug-in hybrid engine. The engine and gearbox configuration will change depending on the region the SUV is being sold in.