Back to the future

With the launch of two large SUVs costing north of a million rand, Hyundai and Kia aren't looking in the rear-view mirror at the host of budget-friendly Chinese vehicles breathing down their necks. Instead, the Koreans have the luxury German brands in their sights...

- PIERRE STEYN

The new Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe might share the same platform; they might both have seven seats and all-wheel drive and cost more than R1,2 million, but that's where the familial similarities end. Because these cousins have taken different forks in the road in their mutual quest to compete with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

The styling of each vehicle is radically different, but the biggest differentiator is under the bonnet. Kia has equipped the Sorento with a tried-and-trusted 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine with lots of torque and a smooth, eight-speed, dual-clutch transmission.

Hyundai has taken a leap of faith and introduced the Santa Fe as the company's first hybrid electric vehicle to be sold in South Africa. It has a 1.6-litre turbo-charged petrol engine with a 44 kW electric motor on the front axle and a six-speed automatic transmission.

We drove both cars at a launch in the Western Cape during winter, so let's start with the elephant in the room... the Santa Fe.