Hyundai plans to introduce an eight-passenger version of the Santa Fe crossover that will likely launch in 2017.
The current model holds up to seven people, but consumers are hoping for a more roomy interior and increased cargo space, Edmunds.com reported.
The next-generation Santa Fe will fill a need for "a real eight-passenger vehicle with cargo space," Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski told Edmunds. "Basically, it comes down to width for comfortable seating for eight, which is what that part of the segment wants."
The South Korea-based automaker is additionally eyeing the possibility of a premium crossover that could compete with the Lexus RX.
"We definitely studied a premium people mover, if you will," Zuchowski told Edmunds. "It is not in the plan and it is not eliminated, it is something under consideration."
One problem with introducing a premium model of the Santa Fe is that it would be featured in the same showroom as the mass-market version.
"It might be more difficult to try to get the premium you need to justify the price when they are sitting next to each other on the lot," Zuchowski said. "It is not impossible, but it makes it a bit more challenging for us. But certainly it is something that we are looking at."
A revamped Santa Fe with eight seats could compete with such models as the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander, the latter of which has dimensions that are almost exactly the same as the Santa Fe, according to Zuchowski.
Toyota "did some really clever interior packaging" on the Highlander, he told Edmunds.
"They have a legitimate eight-passenger (vehicle) and it is doing very well," Zuchowski said. "So we can make some minor adjustments in the Santa Fe long wheelbase (model) and get the same kind of functionality."
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