2026Hyundai Palisade revealed with a box-shaped design, 9 seats

Hyundai revealed a new generation of medium-sized SUV in its Palisade3 column.

The SUV debuted late Friday in South Korea, and the version shown is for that market only. The US version should debut soon. Next year it will be released as a 2026 model.

Palisade is the corporate cousin of Kia Telluride, and a redesigned version of Kia will also debut shortly. The camouflage prototype was recently discovered tested in the United States.

The new Palisade features a significant departure from the styling of the outgoing generation that has been launched from the 2020 model. Hyundai has the same boxy theme that has been introduced throughout its Suv since the launch of the 2024 Santa Fe, as well as stacked headlights formed from five individual slats for daytime running lights adjacent to the main projector. These blend with a flat, multi-slatted grill. In the rear, the design of the lights is similar to the outgoing model, but with the same stacked design that is used for the headlights.

The interior is an even greater departure from the outgoing generation and looks to take the Hyundai flagship further down the premium route. The dual 12.3-inch digital screen of a single display panel faces the driver, but is integrated into a niche with a dash instead of a more common floating design. Multiple physical buttons sit on the central stack, but additional controls are on the steering wheel.

The only features of the center console separated from the dash appear to be the charging port and cup holder. There's a reason for this: the center console can be converted into a central seat in the first row, lifting the Palisade's seat capacity to 9. It is not clear whether this option will be available in markets outside Korea. The 2nd and 3rd rows each come with 3-seat benches as standard, but the 2nd row benches can be replaced with a pair of captain's chairs.

While Hyundai does not provide details about the powertrain, rumors have pointed out that Hyundai is offering a new generation of hybrid options that will use the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder as a gas component and replace the Turbo 4 option with today's stand-alone 3.8-liter V-6. For buyers interested in electric vehicles, Hyundai introduced the Ioniq9 three-row SUV. The Ioniq9 will be on sale early next year, and the 2026 model will also be on sale.

The Palisade is one of Hyundai's best-selling cars in the U.S. 1. SUV sales have averaged more than 80,000 vehicles per year since its launch, and the 2023 tally of 89,509 was a record high. Palisade needs to maintain that momentum even as it faces new competition from a variety of EV entries, including Hyundai's own Ioniq9.