Our Best Look Yet At The Bold 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe

The Santa Fe will share a lot with the new Kia Sorento, but styling isn't one of those things.

A couple of days ago, Hyundai was kind enough to give us a first glimpse of the new Hyundai Santa Fe's face, and we liked what we saw. The enlarged grille and split headlamp design promised a much more assertive appearance. As with all teaser images, though, we wanted more. Now, thanks to what looks like an accurate rendering from AtchaCars, our wish has been granted. They filled in the shadowy areas in Hyundai's teaser by adding in a lower bumper section, front tires, side mirrors, a windshield, and the roof. Below is Hyundai's teaser followed by a variety of renders in various shades.

The overall look is much more in-your-face than the current Sante Fe. However, there are a few changes that differ from Hyundai's teaser image. For instance, the rendering has added an alloy-look surround to the grille that seems a bit excessive - the teaser image appeared to have a body-color grille surround. The grille surround looks better when it matches the main paint color, such as on some of these silver/grey examples. The T-shaped LED DRLs are still very much in place.

The overall look is a bit fussier than what we saw in Hyundai's teaser image, but there is no way that this crossover could be accused of being boring. We still haven't had a clear look at the Santa Fe's revised rear design, besides a couple of heavily camouflaged models roaming about.

The visual artists took things a step further by showing off the Santa Fe in an array of bold colors like green, orange, and purple. These outlandish shades are more what you'd expect to see on a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat than a Korean crossover, and it's unlikely that Hyundai will be as adventurous with the palette when the new Santa Fe does launch.

As covered previously, the Santa Fe should be offered with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine is expected to produce in the region of 290 horsepower. The upgraded crossover reaches Europe in September, but a US launch - along with pricing - remains unknown. The Santa Fe will share a platform and engines with the 2021 Kia Sorento.