Hyundai Santa Fe vs Volkswagen Tayron: which SUV is best for a big family?

Once in a while, brands end up in a dilemma over how they name their cars. Lamborghini is onto a winner with its nameplates inspired by Spanish bulls, but others start to struggle when they stick with the same initial letter.

After creating its first SUV, the Volkswagen Touareg, Volkswagen decided that the letter T would become the key identifier for its future high-riding models. The Tiguan followed, but it felt like the VW marketing team was starting to sweat a little when it came up with T-Roc and T-Cross, plus Taigo and Taos for its worldwide portfolio. However, all that effort was undone when it released the North American and Chinese-market Atlas.

But the T theme is back with the Volkswagen Tayron. It’s new in name, but not in concept; this model replaces the Tiguan Allspace as the seven-seat family SUV offering in the VW range. That’s a segment with plenty of compelling alternatives, and few are as striking as the Hyundai Santa Fe. Its boxy shape helps it to stand out, yet it has genuine substance, too. It’ll provide as stern a test for the Tayron as anything else in this class, so we’ve brought them together to find out which is our pick.

Volkswagen Tayron

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Volkswagen’s new Tayron looks like a straightforward family SUV from the outside, but there’s a bewildering choice of trims and powertrains. While the base Life version will be fine for most, the car in our pictures is in sporty-looking R-Line spec. 

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It costs £43,105 before options with a 1.5 eTSI mild-hybrid powertrain, while, a 15-inch touchscreen and head-up display (£1,130), matrix LED headlights (£595), Comfort Pack (£1,140), Driver assist pack (£975) and metallic paint lift the total to £47,755.

Tester’s notes

Even before the Tayron arrived, the Volkswagen Group already offered buyers a very compelling seven-seat SUV. The Skoda Kodiaq is extremely similar to the VW under the skin, and comes with a related range of internal-combustion and hybrid powertrains. 

It’s also spacious inside, but the range’s base model dips just below £40k and its rotary controls for the heating and ventilation make a big difference to the ease of use. The Cupra Terramar is another similar VW Group option: in effect a Tayron in a sharper, more distinctive suit.

The Tayron is based on the MQB Evo platform, which means it’s available with a wide range of tech that we’ve experienced in the Golf, Passat and many more. This includes VW’s dual-valve adaptive dampers (DCC), plus the next generation of the brand’s progressive steering and XDS virtual limited-slip differential tech. 

The adaptive dampers are well worth investing in; at their firmest they add a healthy dose of body control to any VW equipped with the tech we’ve sampled, and at their softest they deliver a superb ride quality.

Hyundai Santa Fe

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The car pictured here is in Calligraphy trim, which costs £53,890. That’s a significant chunk more than the Tayron, but there are two caveats. First, the Hyundai Santa Fe is fitted with a more involved full hybrid set-up than the mild-hybrid system in the Volkswagen. 

Second, the Hyundai is better equipped than the VW, with most of the kit added to our Tayron test car fitted as standard on the Santa Fe. The entry-level Premium Santa Fe  we’re comparing the VW with here isn’t as well equipped, but starts from £47,890.

Tester’s notes

Those wanting to trade a touch of practicality for luxury can specify their Santa Fe in a six-seat configuration. This replaces the central bench seat with a pair of captain’s chairs. This layout gives those in the middle room even more space in which to stretch out, plus each chair gets an individual fold-out armrest to add to the sumptuous feel. 

It’s not a cheap option, because it’s only available with the top-spec Calligraphy trim – itself starting from almost £54,000 – and buyers must pay another £1,000 for the six-seat option.

There’s a range of touches that proves that Hyundai has gone the extra mile to make the Santa Fe as easy as possible to live with, even for seven people. Access into the third row is fairly easy, because the middle row slides forward without much effort.

Once you’ve climbed into the back, the square roofline means that there’s still loads of headroom, and you’ll also find USB ports and air vents in the third row. Getting out again is a doddle, thanks to an electric release that is easily within reach of each rear occupant.

Head-to-head

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On the road

While the pair are relatively similar in size, the Tayron feels like the more nimble, more compact car on the road. Both are fairly comfortable, thanks to their soft and forgiving suspension set-ups, and there’s little to separate them when it comes to road and wind noise. The Volkswagen’s engine is the more peaceful of the two, however; the Santa Fe’s hybrid powertrain can sound a little rough when it’s pushed.

Tech highlights

The Santa Fe is available with full and plug-in hybrid powertrains, with the former offered with either front or four-wheel drive. Buyers have a little more choice with the Tayron, with petrol, diesel, mild-hybrid petrol and plug-in hybrid options. Power in the VW ranges from the base 148bhp petrol and diesels up to a 262bhp 2.0-litre petrol and 268bhp PHEV. The Hyundai hybrid has 212bhp and the PHEV 249bhp.

Price and running

Tayron prices start from just over £40,000, which makes the Santa Fe quite expensive in comparison – the base Hyundai kicks off from a shade under £48k. The Korean model gets a full hybrid system for that cash, but that doesn’t mean it’ll save on fuel bills; we averaged 32.5mpg, with the MHEV VW beating that figure by 2.6mpg. Both cars are better than average when it comes to resisting depreciation.

Practicality

Second-row passenger space is genuinely vast in both cars, but the Santa Fe is more roomy. And it’s in the very back where it really shines; the Hyundai’s third-row seats are pretty comfortable, even for adults, but the Tayron’s are more of a squeeze. While the VW’s PHEV powertrain potentially offers superb electric-only range, it’s only available with a five-seat layout. Every Santa Fe comes with seven seats.

Safety

The Tayron was assessed by Euro NCAP in 2025 and awarded a maximum five-star rating, with strong scores across all four categories. The Santa Fe only gets five stars when equipped with a safety pack that is standard on Ultimate and Calligraphy trims, but not the base Premium model. This SmartSense pack includes more comprehensive adaptive cruise control and forward-collision warning systems.

Ownership

Volkswagen finished 29th out of 32 brands in the 2024 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, showing that the firm has clear room for improvement when it comes to making its cars both more reliable and easier to live with. Hyundai finished 17th, but the Santa Fe is backed up by a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which is more comprehensive than VW’s three-year, 60,000-mile package.

Verdict

Winner: Volkswagen Tayron

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It’s a very closely fought contest, but the Volkswagen Tayron scrapes a narrow win. That’s because of this pair, it’s the car that will be easier to live with every day. A large part of that comes down to the way that it drives. It doesn’t seem bulky like its rival; indeed, the VW feels barely any more substantial than the smaller five-seat Tiguan upon which it’s based.

The powertrain line-up is excellent – it’s a shame that the PHEV versions aren’t available with seven seats, though – and there’s plenty of space inside, with the back row working well enough for occasional use.

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Runner-up: Hyundai Santa Fe

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The Hyundai Santa Fe has an edge on its test rival for desirability and for those who will frequently make use of the third-row seats, it is also the more versatile option. However, in most other areas, the Hyundai loses out – if only narrowly at times – to the Volkswagen.

It’s a little cumbersome to drive, the hybrid powertrain isn’t that frugal and can sound rough, and the infotainment technology isn’t on the Tayron’s level. Most significant, however, is the price; while you’re getting a lot of tech for the money, the Tayron’s more tempting value gives it the nod in this contest.

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Prices and specs

What we would choose

Volkswagen

The Winter Pack will come in very handy, because it adds a heated steering wheel. For the £460 outlay, it also includes heated rear seats and a heated windscreen – taking away the need to scrape the ice off the front window.

Hyundai

Premium models have a single option: the SmartSense+ Pack, with extra safety tech this lifts the car’s NCAP rating from four to five stars. At £1,500, it’s pricey, but it adds worthwhile features, such as blind-spot monitoring.

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