The South Koreans from Hyundai and Kia are two of the most dynamic carmakers in the automotive industry, recently. But that does not mean they know everything or do it perfectly. So, perhaps some (CGI) pointers are in order occasionally.
Right now, they are working on vastly different plans – which may or may not intertwine in the near future. They give us plenty of cool things to hope for in the EV era, like the Kia EV9 or Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, among others. They also have a styling sense unlike any other these days – they are quirky and/or bold enough to attract everyone's attention without hitting outrageous tones like BMW, for example.
And, when speaking solely of Hyundai, the South Korean brand also helped reawaken the North American love of all things pocket-sized – but most of all, unibody compact pickup trucks. To be fair, maybe if they had not created the Hyundai Santa Cruz Concept for the 2015 North American International Auto Show and then announced they would put it into production years later as the ritzy 2022 Santa Cruz, perhaps Ford would have never thought of reviving the Maverick nameplate.
Truth be told, their execution was much better, as the unibody maverick snatched the hearts and souls of countless Americans, along with their bank account checks. Meanwhile, the rival Hyundai Santa Cruz is miles behind the Ford Maverick in terms of sales – up to the point where we might ponder if we should consider it a failure if nothing good happens soon. Oh, as always, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has a solution – make it a cool SUV to rival the likes of Ford's Bronco Sport while the Tucson battles with the Escape.
The virtual artist kelsonik – aka Nikita Chuicko in real life – has been musing about this transformation for a while now and has come to refine it beyond the CGI call of duty. As such, the latest digital depiction featured a nicely dark and slightly menacing two-tone appearance with blacked-out grille, roof, and mirrors (among others). Plus, it was lowered with a sportier suspension setup on humongous, concave aftermarket wheels. Cool, right? That should give North America some fresh food for CGI, thought!
Meanwhile, the pixel master known as SRK Designs has taken notice of Hyundai's slow yet steady stream of European product refreshments, which so far include the 'Smolsie' i20 city car and the i20 supermini – both facelifted for the 2023 model year with subtle design changes and additional tech goodies.
But he is taking both i10 and i20 matters at the tip of his CGI brush with a few transformations akin to the novel EV lifestyle. So, should Hyundai make the Santa Cruz as an SUV, as well, and the cutesy tiny i20 and i10 with EV powertrains because we can never have enough small battery-powered models that could be more affordable?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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