Love it or hate it, Hyundai’s new styling direction is much more distinctive than past generations.
A few weeks after the automaker revealed its electric Ioniq 9 SUV to the world, we’re now getting our first glimpse of the 2026 Hyundai Palisade as it debuts in South Korea Friday. Much like the brand’s other new models over the past little while, this new Palisade is far more distinctive than the first-generation — and even that was a massive improvement on the fairly bland and anonymous family SUVs the company’s built over the last couple decades. But from the tiny Kona to the new Santa Fe, the Ioniq 9 and now this, it’s clear that Hyundai is looking to make a bolder styling statement with its model lineup moving forward.
So, what can we expect from the 2026 Hyundai Palisade when the SUV makes it stateside? One aesthetic trend that’s all the rage these days is a return to the boxier sort of design languages we saw with past sport utilities. To that end, the new Palisade gets an almost completely upright (and huge) grille, as well as equally beefy-looking headlights and daytime running lights. Apart from just being squarer than its predecessor, the lights integrate into the lower fascia design, which itself works around that large five-slotted grille.
The 2026 Hyundai Palisade does keep the relatively smooth side profile from the current model, though there are more squared-off elements along the A-pillar where it meets the roof, and at the D-pillar coming back down to the tailgate. Hyundai seems to have a fixation on bolder and bolder looking lights, and that shows through at the rear as much as it does at the front. The idea there is to make the car unmistakable at, though the automaker did hold back from a horizontal light bar connecting the lights at either end. Arguably, that gives this family SUV a bit more of an elegant touch that isn’t quite as in-your-face as some of its rivals. This Korean model shows new, intricate 21-inch wheels that look right at home on a luxury SUV.
Inside, the 2026 Hyundai Palisade looks much more upscale — and similar to the Ioniq 9.
As for the interior, the Palisade adopts a new sort of wrap-around dashboard design, housing new infotainment displays and other styling elements fairly similar to its electric Ioniq 9 stablemate. The company’s new three-spoke steering wheel makes another appearance, as does the column-mounted gear selector that continues to make its way through Hyundai’s whole model portfolio. Fortunately, and unlike some of its key competitors, the 12.3-inch displays are actually fairly tame (especially alongside luxury SUVs), and you still get a raft of physical controls for both the HVAC and media systems.
Moving back to the floating center console island, you get a few USB-C ports, ample-looking cupholders and a wireless charging pad. While the passenger doesn’t get anything super fancy like an extra screen, it looks like they do get a shelf to hold small items outside the lower storage area on the center console, and the typical storage beneath the armrests.
In the Korean market, at least, the 2026 Hyundai Palisade can actually seat up to nine passengers, with a bench seat on the front row. It’s unclear whether that will actually make its way to the U.S., but we’ll definitely still see a seven- or eight-passenger configuration depending on whether you want captain’s chairs on the second row.
What will power the 2026 Hyundai Palisade?
Hyundai tends to show off its new models in South Korea before we get a solid idea of what the U.S. market will get, and that includes a conspicuous lack of technical details. So, we now know what the new Palisade looks like and some quality-of-life features…and that’s about it.
Right now, the only powertrain available for the Hyundai Palisade is a 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 putting out 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. The automaker offers hybrid and even plug-in hybrid versions of its smaller Santa Fe and Tuscon SUVs, so it would make some sense for their three-row offering to get some of those options as well. Still, we’ll have to wait and see.
We’ll also have to wait to know more about 2026 Hyundai Palisade pricing. The current model starts at $38,215 (for the base SE), while the top-end Calligraphy goes for $52,015, or the blacked out Calligraphy Night trim is available for an even higher $55,515. You can absolutely count on this new model getting more expensive — most likely starting over $40,000 and possibly touching the $60K mark. Hyundai has continued to offer front-wheel drive variants to keep the MSRPs down a bit, but if it does decide to go with standard all-wheel drive like some rivals, that will naturally raise the barrier to entry as well.
