Well, I'll be the first to admit that I've seen vehicles come out that I thought at first, were ugly, and then ended up having one an liking it.
The Ford Taurus was ugly when it came out. I bought one in 1995 and I still like the looks of it. (It was an SE, so it had SHO looks, but no Yamaha engine.)
Rather uninspiring to drive now... I drove it a couple of months back. (Borrowed from the In-Laws)
The article suggests that the V8 will go into the next Santa Fe, which will be about the size of a Toyota Highlander (and I guess you could say the Murano). If Hyundai could pull it off - a refined V8 SUV under $35,000, people will buy it. Something I read is that Hyundai will be dropping warranties from 10 years to 5 years on the powertrain on all new models. I hope they don't become "Toyota confident" and start decontenting too.
we used to own a hyundai Santa fe before the murano and i was part and still am part of the santa fe forum. the new santa fe will not have a v8 engine. only the new 3.8 v6 with 260+ hp. the v8(which is i believe the second on in hyundai history) will power there new rear drive luxury car(compete with mercedes bmw and the M45) and there large suv which isn't due out for a while still. i kinda like this concept. if only it wasn't so raised station wagonish.