Hyundai Palisade Leaked … in Russia

A couple of weeks out from the LA Auto Show at which it is scheduled to debut, a Russian car enthusiast site has published a picture of what certainly appears to be the 2020 Hyundai Palisade.

Cribbing a few styling cues from other recent Hyundai crossovers, including a grille vaguely shaped like a pointy mushroom bookended by low-slung headlight peepers, the ride shown here looks all set to appear in a school drop-off queue near you.

Your humble author applauds the Korean automaker for scuttling away from the confusing nomenclature it flung at the Santa Fe in recent years, a mishmash of Sport and XL suffixes fit only to befuddle shoppers.

“We’re looking for a three-row crossover. Is that a Santa Fe?”

“No, that is the two-row, which was called the Santa Fe Sport but is now called the Santa Fe.”

“Yes. A Santa Fe is what we want to see, then.”

“No, our three-row is called the XL.”

“I didn’t think you guys made the Excel anymore.”

Fin

Here’s what we do know: the three-row Palisade will be available as an eight-seater, presumably with a 2/3/3 configuration. However, if Hyundai sees fit to bring back the bench seat, this human will be quite excited (they won’t, of course). A transverse V6 is a safe bet, resting in the same architecture that underpins the Kia Telluride.

While some outlets are pushing the Palisade/Telluride as machines to compete with the Tahoe, it is tough to see them as true competitors. The GM units are famously body-on-frame, powered by growly V8 engines, all of which is quite unlike the new Korean fraternal twins. It is possible they may share a great deal with the Tahoe in terms of exterior dimensions, however.

The Palisade takes some of its styling cues – in a toned down form, natch – from the HDC-2 Grandmaster concept shown earlier this year. Grandmaster, by the way, is a most excellent name for a vehicle, ranking up there with Interceptor and Power Hawk.

Hyundai’s last sojourn into the three-row biz with a machine not carrying some version of the Santa Fe name was the Veracruz, a rig that disappeared from the American landscape in 2012. First-year sales were its high water mark, as 12,589 Veracruzeseses found takers. Sales dwindled each year to just under 9,000 in 2012. Conversely, 2012 was the model’s best year in Canada, albeit with fewer than 2,000 units sold.

Expect an official copy of the Palisade to appear at the LA Auto Show, held at the end of this month. Unless, of course, Hyundai PR decides to toss their hands up in the air and release press photos in the wake of this leak.

[Images: autoreview.ru, Hyundai]

Discuss this story on our Kia Telluride Forum