Hyundai Santa Fe AWD not coming to the Philippines, reason being fuel quality

MANILA: The details of the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe are now available officially. Disappointingly, the all-wheel-drive version of the car is not on the cards. Thinking of a reason behind this?

The main reason is the quality of the diesel fuel in the country. Getting into the details, Sivitha Nakula, the non-technical trainer of Hyundai Asia and Pacific, clarified by saying that the AWD Santa Fe vehicle is offered in a Euro 6 turbocharged diesel, which needs a compilable fuel quality. The model available in the country features a Euro 5 engine.

Aesthetically, the 2019 Santa Fe comes with an all-new cascading grille and headlamp configuration at the front. The front fascia of the vehicle is pretty much identical to the Kona, as we see the same placement of the headlamps and the DRLs. The narrow strips placed at the conventional spot are actually the DRLs, and the headlamps are placed lower down on the bumper. Even the turn signals are placed with the LED projector headlamps and not with the DRLs.

The mid-size Santa Fe crossover is now bigger than the previous models by a significant margin (605 mm longer and 10 mm wider). It now rides on 19-inch alloy wheels that get a new shape. And though the rear profile is more or less the same as the previous model, the newly-designed tail lights bring the refreshment.

If you would still be expecting the AWD version in the Philippines, there is just one way your wish might be fulfilled. If the local oil companies start focusing on making Euro 6 fuel, the Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) may change its decision and bring in the all-wheel-drive version in the country. However, this will take a lot of time and we don’t see it coming anytime soon.

The AWD diesel version of the Hyundai Santa Fe is available in countries like Malaysia and Singapore, while only the gas-fed trim is available in Cambodia. However, the Philippines won’t even get the 3.5-litre V6 gas guise as of now.