Soon to be heavily taxed, this SUV drastically lowers its prices in France

Penalized by very heavy taxes next year, Hyundai wants to attract as many customers as possible to its high-end SUV, the Santa Fe, and is now offering a new hybrid version.

As you are surely aware if you diligently follow automobile news, next year, car taxation will further evolve.

As a result, manufacturers must adapt and offer alternatives to some of their models to continue to exist, such as the Hyundai Santa Fe, brand new in France, but which must already adapt to the French market.

A new engine at lower prices

First launched with a 253 hp HTRAC plug-in hybrid engine when orders opened last April, the Korean plug-in hybrid SUV is now available in a 215 hp full-hybrid version with a 1.6 liter T-GDi four-cylinder petrol engine.
The advantage is that this model is finally available below the symbolic threshold of 50,000 euros, since the entry-level Santa Fe hybrid starts from 49 900 euros. For its part, the PHEV is offered at prices ranging from 59,500 to 69,500 euros.
The other side of the coin is that the new Santa Fe hybrid only has the capacity to travel a few kilometers on 100% electric power, while the PHEV version, with its large rechargeable battery, can do around 58 km on WLTP. In addition to this, its CO emissions₂ are displayed between 145 and 159 g/km, which will imply a penalty ranging between 1,901 and 4,026 euros. An amount which should also increase next year with the tightening of the penalty.

Halfway between generalist and premium

The Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid fits right in between the generalists and the premium manufacturers. For example, it is more expensive than the Peugeot 5008, offered at 40,490 euros for a 136 hp micro-hybrid gasoline and 44,990 euros for a 195 hp PHEV, but it is above all more powerful, and above all better equipped as standard. For its part, the Renault Espace starts at 45,000 euros as a 200 hp hybrid.

The other seven-seater premium hybrid competitors are rarer, but they are also above all more expensive, like the Audi Q7 which starts at 97,150 euros in plug-in hybrid version.