The 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel Won’t Be Coming To The US After All
Those who are waiting for the arrival of the 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel will be sorely disappointed with this new development: Hyundai said its first model to feature a diesel engine won’t be coming to US soil, after all. Worse, the three-row Santa Fe, which will be made exclusively with a diesel engine, is not going to be part of Hyundai’s lineup for America.
Initially, Hyundai planned to offer the Santa Fe with a 2.2-liter diesel engine as an option for the 2020 model year. But things have changed and the South Korean company is no longer keen to continue down this path. Brandon Ramirez, Hyundai’s spokesman, told Green Car Report, as quoted by Top Speed, that studies found out the consumers’ reluctance to have a turbo diesel engine in a crossover.
But that’s not all. The low gasoline prices and the shift toward electrification, especially in the United States, also contributed to Hyundai’s decision to back down from its initial plan. Many car companies, after all, have started offering electric cars instead of gasoline and diesel options.
Hyundai won’t be letting the crossover segment in the US get away from them, of course. If you have your eyes on a seven-seater crossover SUV, you can get the 2020 Hyundai Palisade instead. It makes sense for Hyundai to move to this direction as it has already planned to replace the Santa Fe XL with the Palisade in 2020.
Since the diesel option has been officially scrapped from the South Korean firm’s future plans, we can see Hyundai working to fit the Santa Fe with a plug-in hybrid unit in the near future. This has been the trend for many automakers today with only GMC Chevrolet, Land Rover, and Jeep offering diesel options for their models.
