2026 Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro: Flagship SUV gets rugged edition bound for Australia

The new-generation Hyundai Palisade will be offered in Australia in a more rugged version called the XRT Pro, with a higher ride height and a new electronic limited-slip differential.

The second generation of the large three-row crossover is arriving in Australia during the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2025, and the range will expand in the first half of 2026 to include the XRT Pro.

While the outgoing Palisade was offered in XRT guise in the US, this was never sold in Australia.

Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.

Hyundai says the XRT Pro nameplate denotes a more capable off-roader than its existing XRT models, which include – in the US at least – the Tucson, Santa Fe, Ioniq 5 and Santa Cruz.

After being revealed in Korea earlier this year, the Palisade made its US debut today at the New York motor show. In this market, it’ll be offered with either a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid powertrain or a 3.5-litre petrol V6.

In Australia, however, the new-generation Palisade will be offered only with the hybrid at launch, with a turbocharged 2.5-litre four without a hybrid system to follow at a date to be confirmed.

We don’t expect the local-market XRT Pro to mirror the US-market model in offering a V6.

The local-market version may feature slightly different styling to the US-market version, though it’s unclear at this stage what the extent of the differences will be.

Visual changes for the XRT Pro over the regular Palisade include a revised front fascia; a dark-finish grille, window surrounds and cladding; exposed red recovery hooks front and rear; and 18-inch dark-finish alloy wheels in 255/60R18 all-terrain tyres.

Hyundai has raised ground clearance by an extra inch (25.4mm) for a total of 213mm.

The all-wheel drive XRT Pro features a rear electronic limited-slip differential, something not offered in the old XRT, as well as mud, sand and snow terrain modes.

Approach, departure and breakover angles have been approved to 20.5, 22.4 and 18.3 degrees respectively over the regular Palisade.

There are real-time pitch and roll, compass and elevation displays, while the surround-view camera has a forward ground view so you can better see the trail ahead.

Hyundai says the Palisade XRT Pro may be followed by XRT Pro versions of other SUVs in its lineup.

“We see a strong potential for the expansion of XRT Pro,” said Hyundai global design boss Sangyup Lee to Australian media, citing increasing demand for more adventure-seeking SUVs in markets such as Asia and Europe.

Hyundai says the XRT Pro was “explicitly designed for US consumers”. They’ll get it with a “newly developed” 3.5-litre V6 producing 214kW of power and 353Nm of torque, down 3kW and 2Nm on the old 3.8-litre.

It continues to use an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Australian Palisades will use either the 246kW turbocharged petrol-electric powertrain with a six-speed auto, or the 207kW/422Nm turbo four with an eight-speed.

Hyundai Australia says the Palisade will be offered with either seven- or eight-seat configurations – so either second-row captain’s chairs or a three-seat bench.

The Palisade will undergo an “extensive” local tuning program which “may lead to local tuning if required”.

The new SUV has grown across every dimension compared with its predecessor.

Inside, there’s a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen neatly tucked into the dash.

Hyundai Australia expects the sales split between the new Palisade and the recently redesigned Santa Fe to continue to be around 40:60 respectively.

The Korean auto brand is one of only a few in Australia to offer a pair of large, three-row crossover SUVs, with Mazda being another with its CX-80 and CX-90.

MORE: Everything Hyundai Palisade