Spied! Boxier 2025 Hyundai Palisade ditching diesel for hybrid

The upcoming Hyundai Palisade has been spied undertaking winter testing in Europe, and a peek under the bonnet reveals a new turbocharged petrol engine.

Reports from South Korea last year suggested the new Hyundai Palisade would ditch its existing 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and 3.8-litre V6 petrol engines, with a pair of turbo-petrol replacements to fill the gap.

It now appears this change will happen, with the reported 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine under the new Palisade’s bonnet – expected to be paired to a hybrid system to allow the Palisade to compete against the Toyota Kluger hybrid.

The existing 3.8-litre naturally aspirated V6 engine will also reportedly be replaced by a turbocharged 3.5-litre V6.

Though it’s wearing heavy camouflage, we can see the spied Palisade prototype appears to feature even boxier styling than the current model, akin to that of the upcoming Santa Fe.

Reports have suggested the Palisade will also grow in size to allow more space for second- and third-row occupants. The current Hyundai Palisade measures 4995mm long, 1975mm wide and 1750mm tall on a 2900mm wheelbase.

The Palisade’s interior also looks like it will be overhauled, with a single wide screen incorporating the digital instrument cluster and infotainment system, plus a new centre console with USB-C outlets.

While the Palisade is Hyundai’s second best-selling SUV in the US (behind only the Tucson in 2023), the 3770 examples sold in Australia last year ranked it behind the Tucson, Kona and Santa Fe.

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