The Hyundai Santa Fe was crowned the ‘Supreme Winner’ at the 2025 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year Awards. The title was bestowed after an all-female panel of 82 automotive journalists from 55 countries evaluated the Santa Fe on its driving experience, spacious interior, value for money, efficiency, and innovative design.
Hyundai’s midsize SUV went up against 81 other vehicles at this year’s competition. Some of its biggest opponents included the likes of Mini Cooper, the Kia EV3, Audi A6 e-tron, Toyota Land Cruiser, and the Porsche Panamera.
While the Kia EV3 lost out, this is technically a back-to-back victory for the Hyundai Motor Group, as last year’s overall winner was the Kia EV9. It seems like big Korean SUVs resonate quite well with female drivers and car owners.
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We got the chance to review two variants of the Hyundai Santa Fe, namely, the Santa Fe 2.5T Calligraphy and the hybrid version. More often than not, Hyundai’s new design language has been polarizing, but we have grown to appreciate the Santa Fe’s boxy and rugged form factor. Handling and maneuvering are surprisingly easy for such a big car, and the hybrid powertrain gave us a desirable 16km/L in mixed driving conditions.
While those two higher variants sticker for around P3 million, the base Hyundai Santa Fe is priced at P2.410 million. Paying an extra P130,000 will bump you up to an AWD system and then some.
In a highly competitive midsize-SUV market, how does the Hyundai Santa Fe look against the Kia Sorento, the Ford Explorer, and the Mazda CX-90?
