Hyundai Motor America just reported its May 2024 sales and year-to-date deliveries – the South Korean automaker is slowly but steadily reverting to its more positive habits.

So, while the January through May sales are only up by 2%, the total deliveries during the past month jumped 12% – and it was also the best May month ever for the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Santa Cruz, Tucson, and Santa Fe hybrids, plus the flagship Palisade.

The sales grew to more than 78k units in May, while the year-to-date performance has reached almost 332k deliveries. Speaking of the big Palisade, the family-oriented mid-size crossover SUV seriously outpaces the overall growth pace with a jump of 33% to 44,544 examples from January to May. That’s interesting, especially considering the fact that the successor of the Hyundai Santa Fe XL was presented in late 2018.

However, it reached the United States for the 2020 model year alongside its Kia Telluride cousin, and the refreshed Palisade debuted at the New York International Auto Show in April 2022 for the 2023 model year with a modified front fascia, an enhanced interior with a larger 12.3-inch navigation system, and other perks. In the US, it starts from $36,650 in SE trim with the standard 3.8-liter GDI V6 engine churning out 291 horsepower towards the front or all wheels and has seating for eight.

As such, most likely, American customers don’t feel that the Palisade – a name inspired by the coastal cliffs of the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles or the forty-mile Hudson River palisade – has started growing long in the tooth just yet. Alas, the South Korean company is diligently preparing the second generation, and we know that because the rumor mill has incessantly spied on and leaked all the latest prototypes spotted during testing at home.

Naturally, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators wasn’t far behind the rumor mill. As such, both independent artists and dedicated video channels have strived to present the 2025 or (most likely) 2026 Hyundai Palisade in all of its CGI glory way ahead of the official debut. The latest to attempt the digital feat are the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube, who have unofficially imagined the virtual looks of the upcoming 2025 or 2026 Hyundai Palisade mid-size CUV with plenty of POVs and ritzy or even flamboyant colors.

Based on the latest spied prototypes, the host of the channel instructed the resident pixel master to present the 2026 Hyundai Palisade family-oriented mid-size crossover SUV from an elevated position with the doors open as well as the classic front three-quarters POV. Naturally, they didn’t forget about some cool shades for the color palette reel, and the general consensus is that Hyundai will equip their new Palisade with a front LED lightbar, a massive radiator grille, and vertically-stacked LED headlights.

Meanwhile, inside, the CGI expert didn’t have much work to do – they postulated that Hyundai’s designers might be lazy and just stretched the Santa Fe’s interior to fit the larger dimensions of the Palisade flagship. Well, at least they also shared additional ritzy colors, right? So, what do you think? Is Hyundai bringing the new Palisade soon both at home and in America, or are they going to let it garner some additional accolades and sales records before the model changeover?