With Hyundai’s full redesign of its 2024 Santa Fe midsize crossover, the automaker went for a much more boxy, rugged, and downright old-school SUV look. Total it’s a extremely cohesive and pretty easy (three-box) design, however one factor has caught out to plenty of people, together with me: the oddly low taillight placement. Properly, there’s apparently an excellent cause for that selection.

I spoke with the Santa Fe’s lead designer, SangYup Lee, and he defined that the taillights are positioned low down on the crossover so as to make the tailgate as large as potential, and it’s undoubtedly large. It virtually seems prefer it covers the complete rear of the automobile. With the intention to make the tailgate that large, you’ll want to make the struts holding up the tailgate as lengthy and thin as potential. It’s all about making the “grey zone” – the world between the shut line and the sill of the Santa Fe’s trunk – as small as you possibly can.

In truth, these struts are so lengthy that they’re truly mounted the place taillights would often be positioned, in accordance with Lee. They’re located in a way more upright approach than struts on different tailgates. Which means the taillights gotta transfer, and decrease down on the physique is the reply Hyundai designers got here up with.

When it comes to dimensions, the 2024 Santa Fe is 74.8 inches large, and the tailgate opening is a really beneficiant 5o.2 inches large. Hyundai tells me that may be a 5.7 inch enchancment over the outgoing Santa Fe.

You’ll additionally discover that these taillights are fully counted on the tailgate of the crossover, which signifies that when the tailgate is up, supplemental taillights illuminate on the rear bumper for regulatory and security functions.

Lee added stated that Hyundai isn’t the primary firm to place taillights so low down on the car, citing the Mercedes-Benz G Wagon for example.

“I checked and the G Wagon has a low taillamp, however we’re cheaper,” the designer stated jokingly.