Between the two main brands of the Hyundai Motor Group—Kia and Hyundai, the former has a large MPV in the form of the Carnival, while Hyundai has, of all things, the Palisade.
It seems weird that Hyundai doesn’t have a luxury MPV to call their own, but in their home market of South Korea, the refreshed Palisade pretty much fills in that gap. Now, the Palisade doesn’t exactly fit the mold of a traditional MPV, but thanks to clever interior packaging, it does offer seating up to nine adults. Yes, nine.
Hyundai’s managed to do that thanks to two things. First, they stretched the dimensions. At 5,060 mm in length, it’s 65 mm longer than before, while staying close to the current model in terms of width and height (1,980 mm and 1,805 mm, respectively). Its wheelbase too has grown by 70 mm to 2,970 mm.
Now, if you’re keeping score, that still falls short of the Carnival’s 5,155 mm overall length and 3,090 mm wheelbase, but a rework of the interior frees up a front center seat that bumps up the seating capacity to nine in a 3+3+3 configuration. This allows the Palisade to cleverly work around Korea’s bus lane rules.
Tech-wise, you’d probably come to expect the 9-seater Palisade to look or be a bare bones model, right? Not so. You can get it with high levels of luxury complete with dual 12.3-inch screens, power adjustment for the front outer seats, ambient lightning, a three-zone climate control, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, and heck, power folding second- and third-row seats!
Even better, if you don’t need to cozy up at the front, it can be collapsed to reveal two cup holders, a wireless charger, a couple of USB Type C connectors, and a lidded armrest console.
The Palisade also comes with a full suite of ADAS functions, including Highway Driving Assist 2, which allows for automated lane changes on recognized motorways, in addition to adaptive cruise control and lane-centering functionality.
For the 2026 Palisade, Hyundai discontinued the V6 in favor of a complete 4-cylinder engine line-up. The range starts with a turbocharged 2.5-liter with 281 horsepower and 422 Nm of torque. Despite producing more power (and dropping two cylinders), this turbo motor is more efficient than the V6, Hyundai says. This one uses an 8-speed automatic.
For those who want power and economy, there’s the Palisade Hybrid. It uses a 262 horsepower, 353 Nm version of the 2.5-liter turbo, but joined with a 73 horsepower, 264 Nm electric motor. This strong parallel hybrid produces 334 horsepower matched to a 6-speed automatic. Remarkably, this version is the most powerful gas-powered Hyundai currently on sale, while also offering a claimed driving range of over 1,000 kilometers.
Finally, the 2026 Palisade is the first non-N Hyundai to also offer adaptive suspension tech called Electronic Controlled Suspension (ECS), which leverages the cameras, sensors, and navigation data to reduce pitching and yawing movements.
The Palisade just started its customer deliveries in South Korea in January of this year. Will the Philippines get it? Well, the current Palisade is on offer, so there’s a chance it’ll also be made available as their flagship SUV.
Looks good. I shall purchase one!
ReplyDeleteI hope the Staria would have the same seating configuration like this one. 3-3-3
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