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Hybrid versions of the new-generation Hyundai Santa Fe have received top marks against ANCAP safety criteria.
Family Cars
The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe six- or seven-seat family SUV has received a five-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) under the latest and most stringent 2023-25 criteria.
Hybrid versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe – available in Australia since May 2024 – are covered by the rating, while petrol variants due to arrive in local showrooms this month are currently unrated.
The ANCAP result is based on testing conducted overseas by Euro NCAP, with the Hyundai SUV sold exclusively with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains in Europe.
European Santa Fes received a split four-star and five-star result due to differences in active safety equipment for lower grades – but all Australian hybrid models are covered by the highest five-star rating.
ANCAP said the Santa Fe “demonstrated good results in tests of its collision avoidance capabilities with other road users” and “full points were awarded for the Santa Fe’s protection of the driver in the full width and side impact tests, and children in the frontal offset and side impact test”.
A ‘marginal’ result was recorded for the protection of the driver’s chest and an ‘adequate’ result for the lower legs of the driver and front passenger in the frontal-offset test.
Protection of the rear passenger was recorded as ‘adequate’ in the full-width frontal test, while chest protection was rated as ‘marginal’ in the oblique pole test.
The front structure of the Santa Fe was found to present a moderate risk to occupants in an oncoming vehicle, with a 3.36-point penalty out of eight points applied for vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility.
‘Good’ results were recorded for the protection of the two child dummies – equivalent to a 10-year-old and a six-year-old – across the frontal-offset and side-impact tests.
The Santa Fe scored 0.25 points out of a possible four for its ‘indirect’ child presence detection system, which alerts the driver when a child may have been left in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle.
While the vehicle recorded ‘good’ and ‘adequate’ protection when the head of a struck pedestrian collides with most of the surface of the bonnet and windscreen, ANCAP notes ‘marginal’ and ‘poor’ results at the base of the windscreen, the windscreen pillars, and the front edge of the bonnet surface.
Overall, the Hyundai Santa Fe scored 84 per cent for adult occupant protection, 86 per cent for child occupant protection, 77 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 80 per cent for safety assistance.
Minimum scores of 80 per cent, 80 per cent, 70 per cent, and 70 per cent are required, respectively, to achieve a five-star rating under the latest ANCAP criteria.
Family Cars Guide
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
