The Hyundai Ioniq 7 or 9 (or whatever they're calling it) may be one of the most hotly anticipated new SUVs that's set to arrive in the coming months alongside models like the Jeep Recon, Cadillac Escalade IQ, Lucid Gravity, the Scout SUV, or Tesla's refreshed Model Y, but what about ICE fans?
Well, as it turns out, Hyundai has something for them, too, in the mid-size family-oriented crossover SUV department. The second-generation Palisade (which is twinned with the slightly more popular Kia Telluride) is one of Hyundai's worst-kept secrets, as fresh spy photos and videos regularly pop across the rumor mill in what feels like a never-ending saga.
Indeed, launched in 2018, the successful Hyundai Palisade three-row crossover SUV is starting to get a bit long in the tooth. However, South Korean automakers have every reason to invest in a successor because although it's aging, it is doing so gracefully. In America, sales through April jumped 30% to more than 34k units.
Caught all over the place in South Korea, the second-generation Palisade is shaping up as another radical idea from Hyundai – which, alongside its partner Kia, is never afraid of drastic styling decisions. Somehow, both automakers landed positively in almost all cases of restyling their most successful products. As such, not a lot of folks are afraid that Hyundai's upcoming Palisade might turn out to be a dud.
Instead, everyone wants to see it unveiled faster than yesterday. That includes the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, and Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media or burlappcar.com) is a prolific virtual artist who loves to dream of all the latest models across the wide-ranging automotive realm. Among his CGI preoccupations is also the second iteration of the Hyundai Palisade, and just recently, the pixel master prepared a compilation video featuring his illustrations depicting the hypothetical, unofficial style of the next-generation Hyundai Palisade.
None of those is the real thing, and the dead giveaway is that they don't go after the most recent findings uncovered by the rumor mill – the latest spy photos and videos show Hyundai a little less preoccupied with hiding everything, and now we can see the rectangular headlights or the ritzy interior. However, they still cover a few interesting subjects – like the fact that Hyundai might step up the near-luxury game with the next Palisade and make it not only fresh but also ritzier than ever before.
There are no less than five unofficial interpretations of the looks of the upcoming 2026 Hyundai Palisade envisioned by this CGI expert, ranging across the spectrum from classy to sporty and from simple or Cadillac-like to futuristic. So, which is your favorite?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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