Hyundai Grand Santa Fe for Europe at Geneva – but the UK doesn’t get it

The Hyundai Grand Santa Fe – a stretched version of the new Hyundai Santa Fe – is to go on sale in Europe and debut at Geneva 2013. But not for the UK.

It’s nearly a year since the new Hyundai Santa Fe launched, and a good, proper size SUV it is. It even has seven seats as an option, although, unlike the US, we have to make do with seven seats in a regular sized Santa Fe;  the stretched version of the Santa Fe is on offer across the Pond to accommodate American size Americans, but it wasn’t heading for Europe. But now it is.

The Hyundai Grand Santa Fe – with added fat boy room – is to debut at next month’s Geneva Motor Show ahead of going on sale across Europe. But Hyundai has decided it won’t be coming to the UK.

The Grand Santa Fe is bigger all round than the regular Santa Fe – 10mm taller, 5mm wider and 225mm longer – thanks to an extra 100mm in the wheelbase, and does make the Santa Fe far more able to accommodate six or seven without compromise.

Hyundai has tweaked the underpinnings of the Grand Santa Fe to make it more appealing to European buyers, with a more damped and responsive drive, and the Grand Santa Fe is visibly different from its more compact sibling with a re-shaped grill, fog lamps and front bumper and a bigger rear quarter light.

It come shod with 18″ or 19″ alloys and gets Hyundai’s 2.2-litre diesel engine with 194bhp and a high spec including a huge panoramic roof and 4.3″ TFT Supervision Cluster.

Hyundai Europe’s Allan Rushforth said:

The addition of Grand Santa Fe to the Hyundai portfolio will help meet the rising demand for E-segment SUV models in Europe. Grand Santa Fe upholds the company’s tradition of offering high levels of quality and standard specification, without the premium price.

A powerful-yet-efficient engine, European-tuned chassis and the ability to accommodate people and luggage makes Grand Santa Fe the ideal choice for large families.

But we do wonder if Hyundai are missing a trick?

True, it’s easier just to tweak the stretched US version of the Santa Fe than it is to offer a RHD version for the UK, but with the UK now the ‘fattest’ country in Western Europe, we’d have thought the UK should be a prime market for a Santa Fe that can swallow six or seven lardies with ease.