The Palisade, Hyundai’s new super-large SUV, could present a big deal here if pricing reflects the Australia market strategy.

FAVOURABLE positioning against the just-landed Hyundai Santa Fe could seem a potential for that model’s big brother, the Palisade.

That’s on assumption stickers announced in the only other right-hand-drive market have been a guidance for the NZ distributor.

Hyundai New Zealand has confirmed intent to have the Palisade on sale here next month, but has yet to provision local specifications and prices for what will be the fifth SUV in its line-up and the first to offer eight seats.

It did not respond to a request to offer clarity on where it could stand, but conjecture has been fuelled by announcement of the car’s pricing in Australia.

If transferred here, our neighbour’s strategy would conceivably give the larger model a good start – but perhaps at expense of the Santa Fe, with which it shares a platform, a diesel drivetrain and even a common assembly line in South Korea. 

Across the water, Palisade will sell for the equivalent of $NZ63,850 in entry form and $NZ79,800 in a flagship trim, those recommended retails precluding on-road costs.  

If carried into NZ, that strategy would see a base Palisade siting $50 below the cheapest Santa Fe, but would also leave the top Palisade siting almost $20k beneath the most expensive Santa Fe here, the Limited.

 Australia has decided on an eight-seater entry model, simply called Palisade, and a range-topping version it calls Highlander, available with either seven or eight seats, both in front-drive petrol V6 and four-wheel-drive 2.2-litre turbodiesel.

 New Zealand and Australia are presently the only right-hand-drive markets for the car, which was originally expected to only be sold in North America, so conceivably that’s the full menu for us as well.

It became available for NZ consideration, with sign-off for sale confirmed in June, after Hyundai’s distributor in Australia successfully petitioned Seoul head office to start a right-hand-drive build programme.

Hyundai NZ has previously indicated thought that it sees good potential for Palisade, but has made clear it will not deliver it in as many formats as the Santa Fe. And don’t expect to see the Highlander badge – Toyota NZ obviously already has right to that name for its own SUV. It’ll be a Palisade Limited here, to maintain continuity with Hyundai NZ badging protocols. 

The big selling Palisade has previously been identified as the 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel four-wheel-drive. That’s been the top choice for Santa Fe, too. Palisade takes it the virtually identical tune, power output drops by 1kW in Palisade, to 147kW, but torque is identical at 440Nm.

Palisade’s alternate V6 is a 3.8-litre, creating 217kW and 355Nm, whereas Santa Fe runs a 3.5 good for 200kW/331Nm. They all run the same eight-speed automatic transmissions. Only the Santa Fe’s entry petrol, a 2.5-litre, is not in the larger setting.

Hyundai says the Palisade’s V6 uses 10.7 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, which is just 0.2L.100km worse that the Santa Fe’s claimed optimal. The diesel’s economy suffers in the Palisade – Hyundai cites 7.3L/100km for the larger unit, against 6.1L/100km in a Santa Fe.

The exterior is to Hyundai’s current design language, but reminds of larger American SUVs, according to Australian website CarAdvice.

The entry car runs on 18-inch wheels, the high-end car on 20-inch wheels for the Highlander, together with bi-LED headlights and tail-lights.

Inside, buyers get a choice of black leather with metallic-look trim and a knit headliner in the Palisade, while the high-end model gets burgundy or beige Nappa leather with beech wood-look trim and a suede headliner.

A 10.25-inch infotainment screen featuring satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, and multi-connection Bluetooth, which runs through a 12-speaker Infinity premium audio system, is a common fixture.

Due to the expansive cabin, the Palisade also offers 'Driver Talk', which allows the driver to speak to second- and third-row occupants through the car's audio system. The system also has a 'Quiet Mode' which mutes the rear speakers, and sets the front speakers to a low maximum volume.

Front occupants get wireless smartphone charging in the centre console, while second-row passengers have access to USB ports.

As well as three ISOFIX child seat restraints, the Palisade also features four top tether child seat anchor points in the seven-seat Highlander, and five anchor points in eight-seat configuration (all variants). The second-row of seats features one-touch folding to help with third-row loading.

Front occupants get to enjoy heated and ventilated power seats, while the driver gains a 7.0-inch LCD digital instrument cluster. The 10.25-inch, all-digital instrument cluster offered in overseas markets doesn’t feature in right-hand-drive, but a head-up display goes into the flagship.

On the Highlander, a blind-spot view monitor shows a live feed of the Palisade's left and right blind-spot zones within the instrument cluster when the indicator is engaged, as well as a surround view monitor with guidance provides a 360-degree birds-eye view when parking.

A dual-panel power sunroof and hands-free power tailgate are also standard on the more expensive model.

Hyundai's SmartSense safety suite comes standard, featuring blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, high beam assist, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, driver attention warning with leaving vehicle departure alert, lane-keep assist, lane following assist, safe exit assist (top model only), rear occupant alert, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist recognition, and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go.