New Car Overview of the 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe Compact Sport Utility Vehicle

Description: Compact Sport Utility Vehicle
Base MSRP Range: $21,695 - $25,895
Invoice Price Range: $20,350 - $24,264
Where built: South Korea

Hyundai's compact-class SUV, with four doors and two rows of seats for five riders, rises from the front-wheel-drive (FWD) platform of a sedan for a smooth ride quality.

Power comes from one of two V6 engines and there's optional all-wheel-drive (AWD) traction with the larger V6. The full-time AWD system employs a unique Dual Drive front differential with planetary gears plus viscous coupling and it sends as much as 60 percent of the engine's muscle to front wheels.

Deluxe new Limited trim for Santa Fe has leather upholstery, heated front seats and power tabs on the driver's bucket, plus automatic climate controls and a dashboard CD changer.

Santa Fe GLS is the entry edition and comes with a 2.7-liter V6 which nets 170 hp as standard plant, or an optional 3.5-liter V6 pushing 200 hp through Hyundai's five-speed Shiftronic automatic. The 3.5-liter V6 is standard for Limited.

Hyundai, largest car company in South Korea, invests in North America with its new Alabama assembly plant, a technology and engineering center in Michigan, research and design studios in California plus a test track in the Mojave Desert. As a result, many of the vehicles in Hyundai's extensive lineup for 2006 skew directly toward the American market -- such as Sonata, a mid-size sedan with V6 power that comes together at the Alabama plant. Azera pops up as Hyundai's elegant new flagship sedan for the USA, and Accent, smallest car in Hyundai's fleet, rolls out in a new design with segment-leading standard safety systems aboard.