2026 Hyundai Palisade offers 9 seats, but will it come to US?

• The redesigned Hyundai Palisade three-row SUV launched in South Korea
• It comes with an available front-row bench seat to accommodate three people, or nine people total across its three rows
• It remains to be seen if the 9-seat configuration will be offered in the U.S.

The Hyundai Palisade three-row SUV has been redesigned with even more seating space.

Hyundai revealed the next-generation Palisade Friday in Korea, showing the version that will be sold in that market only. But you can expect the same vehicle to arrive in the U.S., with a few tweaks, potentially, as a 2026 model.

One of the biggest changes is the ability to set up to nine people, made possible by a center console that folds down to create a middle seat for the first row. That’s in addition to standard bench seats for the second and third row, although the second-row bench can be swapped for captain’s chairs.

It’s unclear if the nine-seat configuration will be available in the U.S., but it would certainly help set the Palisade apart from the numerous other three-row SUVs currently available, including Hyundai’s own Santa Fe and all-electric Ioniq 9. The latter is expected to start U.S. sales next year, also as a 2026 model.

The only SUVs in the U.S. with nine seats are the much larger Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs. 

The interior also receives a dashboard design and layout similar to the most recent Hyundai Santa Fe. Dual 12.3-inch screens serve as the instrument cluster and infotainment interface placed side-by-side in one housing, there’s a pod of physical controls on the center stack, and a twist-activated shifter sticks on the steering column.

The exterior styling changes significantly from the outgoing generation, which has been on sale since the 2020 model year. The new Palisade is much boxier, with a broader grille and stacked headlights. The shape of the headlights is repeated at that back in the taillights.

Hyundai did not provide any details on the powertrain. The Palisade is currently available only with a 3.8-liter V-6, but it would make sense for Hyundai to offer a turbo-4 engine or hybrid powertrain as more fuel-efficient options. It will likely remain a corporate cousin of the Kia Telluride, a redesigned version of which is also expected to debut shortly.

The Palisade is one of Hyundai’s best-selling vehicles in the U.S. It’s averaged more than 80,000 units annually since its launch. In 2023, Hyundai sold 89,509 Palisades, marking its best sales year yet.