New Hyundai Santa Fe SUV: first pictures drop of new seven-seat 4x4

First official pictures of the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV have arrived ahead of the car's reveal at the 2018 Geneva motor show.

Hyundai's pictures show slim headlights, a huge grille and chunky bumper cladding at the front. The sketches also show rear lights that stretch and connect to the strong beltline along the side, and the new Santa Fe has a familiar rear end to that of the Skoda Kodiaq. Hyundai says that the new SUV has a 'confident and stable stance'.

Inside, the cockpit is similar to that of the i30 hatch, but has kit like a digital instrument cluster and a slightly cleaner dashboard layout.

Hyundai says that the new Santa Fe ‘offers a comprehensive package of Hyundai’s latest active safety features’, as part of its ‘Smart Sense’ tech pack.A ‘rear occupant alert’ monitors those in the rear seats, while the rear cross traffic alert system can now autonomously brake to stop you crashing into crossing traffic while reversing.

Hyundai’s Santa Fe has been on sale since 2001 and shares a few bits with the Kia Sorento, so we shouldn’t expect engine choices to stray too far from the current 2.2-litre CRDi diesel-only line-up.

We’ll see the full car in February and will be able to report further when it makes its show debut at the 2018 Geneva motor show, so stay tuned.