It’s no surprise to FAN that the Hyundai Santa Fe has won 2020 Drive Large SUV of the Year. We’ve reviewed the car earlier this year and loved it.
“The Santa Fe has been a judges’ favourite in the Large SUV segment for some time now and it continues to impress,” Drive said.
“Against strong competition from newcomers Skoda Kodiaq and U.S.-focused Holden Acadia, the Santa Fe makes a strong case in terms of value and family friendliness.
“It’s clearly the best large SUV for family buyers whether you spend most of your time around town or out on the open road.”
As well as ousting its toughest new rivals Kodiaq and Acadia, Santa Fe rose to the challenge to out-perform finalists Toyota Prado, Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Isuzu MU-X.
Santa Fe impressed judges from the outset with its progressive styling, versatility, and generous standard specification, which includes advanced safety and connectivity tech.
During Drive’s COTY testing evaluation, Santa Fe’s flexible petrol and torquey turbo-diesel engines – with standard HTRAC all-wheel drive and Australian-tuned suspension – saw it continue to draw praise for its ride dynamics and comfort.
“For the second year in a row, Hyundai’s commitment to delivering progressive, innovative and technologically advanced vehicles to Australians has been recognised with a coveted Drive Car of the Year award,” said Mr. JW Lee, Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) Chief Executive Officer.
“Winning two 2020 Drive Car of the Year SUV awards, for Kona and Santa Fe, further underlines the breadth and quality of the Hyundai SUV range we have in Australia.”
HMCA Chief Operating Officer, John Kett, said that Santa Fe’s repeat victory, from a seven-strong field of finalists, underlines its class-leading family SUV credentials.
“The Santa Fe’s style and practicality, comfort and performance, and standard active safety and connectivity technology makes it the perfect SUV for Australian families,” he said.
Santa Fe boasts Hyundai’s SmartSense™ suite as standard, incorporating forward collision-avoidance assist among an array of active safety technologies, as well as an advanced multimedia system featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
Also standard across the range are a rear park assist system with rear view camera, walk-in switch for easy third-row access, rear air-conditioning controls, roof rails and alloy wheels, starting from $43,000 MLP for Santa Fe Active, with the peace of mind of Hyundai’s five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.
Santa Fe is the second Hyundai SUV winner in the 2020 Drive awards, following on from last week’s announcement of Kona as the 2020 Drive Small SUV of the Year.
Drive’s 2020 Car of the Year saw a 10-strong expert judging panel compare more than 100 cars across 20 categories, over an exhaustive week of assessment.
