WeeklySA_AdminFUTURISTIC: The all-new 2025 Hyundai SANTA FE Hybrid seating up to seven passengers breaks cover
By Motoring Reporter
South Africans have now joined other global drivers in experiencing and driving the award-winning, bold, futuristic, versatile and effortlessly stylish: all-new 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.
Speaking at the launch, Stanley Anderson: Sales and Operations Director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa underscored the iconic vehicle’s family proposition. “The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is family-friendly, tech-savvy and sustainable. No matter the destination, this vehicle turns every drive into an adventure to remember.”
The radically transformed Santa Fe Hybrid introduces a high hood, eye-catching H-shaped LED headlamps and bold, sharp fenders – a powerful exterior that creates a sense of splendour.
With dimensions featuring an overall 1 900 mm width, a 2 815 mm wheel base and 4 830 mm overall length, it stands on 20-alloy inch wheels. Offered in a three-row with seating for up to seven passengers, a large touchscreen display, with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available as standard, all of which can pair wirelessly with your mobile device.
The instrument cluster has been upgraded to a large 12.3-inch display and the Bose® premium audio will make your favourite music sound better than ever.
Families will appreciate the inclusion of 6 airbags as well as upper and lower ISOFIX points in both the second and third rows. A synthetic leather material, including heated and ventilated front seats as well as second row heated seats giving the vehicle an upmarket feel.
Convenience is further improved with driver and passenger-controlled central door locks and automatic safety locks. The package comes with some smart sense safety features including: 360-View Monitor, Drive-Attention Warning, Blind Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Blind-Spot View Monitor, Rear-Occupant Alert, Forward-Collision Avoidance Junction as well as the Lane-Follow Assist, amongst others. Under the bonnet is a high-powered 132 kW/265 Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine with a 44kW/264 Nm electric motor.
The hybrid powertrain produces a total system output of 175 kW and 367 Nm all-wheel-drive system. The combination of the engine and electric motor helps to reduce fuel consumption, resulting in 7.5 litres per 100km.
Hyundai says they’ve also brought the paddle-type regenerative braking mode to hybrid models, which was used primarily on electric vehicles. This gives the driver many options. The regenerative braking converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy back into electrical energy by turning the wheels to generate electricity
Just for good measure, the Hyundai Santa Fe including its hybrid variant, has been globally recognized as the overall winner of the 2025 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year award. The award is voted on by a distinguished jury of 82 women motoring journalists from 55 countries, across five continents. Additionally, the Hyundai SANTA FE has been recognized as the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the Year at the recent TopGear.com Awards.
Pricing and Warranty
The Hyundai SANTA FE Hybrid Elite AWD is priced at R 1 249,900 – and comes with Hyundai’s legendary 7-year/200,000 km warranty. This includes coverage for the engine, transmission and other key drivetrain components.
MOTORING: Briefs
NEW VEHICLE SALES UP
Aggregate domestic new vehicle sales in May 2025, at 45,308 units, reflected an increase of 8,169 units, or a substantial gain of 22,0%, from the 37,139 vehicles sold in May 2024, buoyed by relatively stable economic fundamentals earlier in the year. Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 45,308 vehicles, an estimated 40,062 units, or 88,4%, represented dealer sales, an estimated 6,8% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 3,0% to industry corporate fleets, and 1,8% to government sales.
The May 2025 new passenger car market, at 31,741 units, had registered an increase of 7,322 cars, or a 30% gain, compared to the 24,419 new cars sold in May 2024. Car rental sales accounted for 8,5% of new passenger vehicle sales during the month. Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses at 10,938 units during May 2025 had recorded an increase of 601 units, or a gain of 5,8%, from the 10,337 light commercial vehicles sold during May 2024.
IS THE VW GOLF GTI PAST ITS PRIME?
Since the first Golf rolled off the assembly line in late March 1974, Volkswagen has built more than 37 million units. It’s by far the company’s most popular car ever, comfortably surpassing the Beetle (21.5 million) and the Polo (20 million). But the once-dominant Golf may be past its prime. Production has dropped sharply in recent years, according to a presentation by the works council at the Wolfsburg site. Reuters saw the internal document and reports that VW built more than one million Golf hatchbacks and wagons globally in 2015, but only a little over 300,000 units last year. For 2025, the German automaker projects it will assemble just 250,000 vehicles. In just a decade, output has plummeted by 75%. Works council chief Daniela Cavallo told the news agency it’s only going to get worse: “The trend is an unstoppable decline.”
WHAT’S IN A NAME
The Geely EX5 mid-size electric SUV is already on sale, but a trademark dispute could force it to be renamed. Two months after acceptance of the ‘Geely EX5’ trademark was published by IP Australia on December 17, 2024, BMW submitted a notice of intention to oppose Geely’s filing on February 17, 2025. It has until July 29, 2025 to provide evidence to support its opposition. It appears BMW’s opposition to the nameplate is due to the similarity with its long-running X5 nameplate.
“BMW Group protects its well established reputation in its premium products which are highly regarded and valued by consumers,” said a BMW Group Australia spokesperson when asked about the trademark opposition.
THE NEW BENTAYGA SPEED
Combining elite performance with dynamic agility, it eclipses its predecessors, including the W12-engined version, by introducing Bentley’s most powerful and engaging chassis yet. For the first time in a Bentayga, the chassis enables controlled, on-throttle slip, elevating the driving experience. At the heart of the new Bentayga Speed is a refined 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, delivering an impressive 478 kW and 850 Nm of torque. This powerhouse accelerates the luxury SUV from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds, topping out at 310 km/h. The V8 engine comes standard with a sports exhaust system, producing a throaty growl that matches the vehicle’s performance persona. For an even more visceral experience, the optional titanium Akrapovič exhaust amplifies the soundtrack, complemented by quad tailpipes for a bold rear aesthetic.
ELECTRIC G-CLASS A FLOP
Much like the four-cylinder AMG C63, Mercedes had high hopes for the electric G-Class. The company naively believed customers would seamlessly switch to the EV version, assuming the power of the Geländewagen brand would offset the downsides of electrification. However, a new report paints a grim picture of how the market has responded to the G580 with EQ Technology. According to German business newspaper Handelsblatt (subscription required), Mercedes executives have brutally admitted that the electric G-Class is a commercial failure. One executive, who understandably wished to remain anonymous, stated: “The car is sitting like lead at dealers; it’s a complete flop.” Another manager quoted by the reputable publication said: “It’s a niche model; the sales volume is very low.”
