Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai is closing in on its lifestyle pickup model, previewed by the Santa Cruz concept.
The South Korean brand will use the platform of the Tucson SUV for the new pickup truck, instead of choosing a body-on-frame solution. With the unibody design, Hyundai’s first pickup truck will be more like a conventional car or SUV instead of what you might expect from a vehicle with a truck bed behind its passenger compartment.
Hyundai is not the first automaker to choose a unibody design for a pickup truck, and the decision makes sense when you consider what most users do with these vehicles.
Meanwhile, clients who want more from a pickup truck than a drive to the mall and the drive-in can still go for body-on-frame models, but other automakers build these.
Instead of making a cumbersome vehicle, which might not feel at home on paved roads, Hyundai preferred to build a workhorse that should drive just like a regular automobile.
Thus, while not being able to two massive weights or to carry them in its bed, the Santa Cruz’s production version will provide the functionality of a pickup truck without the hassle and the driving experience of one.
At this point, Dave Zuchowski, the President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, has confirmed that the brand has made a decision regarding the design of the Santa Cruz’s production version. Hyundai is expected to show it at the Los Angeles Auto Show or at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show.
According to Motor Trend, the production version of the Hyundai Santa Cruz will come to market as a 2018 or 2019 model. The latter variant is less likely, considering that the platform for this model is already on the market.
Hyundai’s internal estimates believe that the brand could sell anything between 50,000 and 70,000 pickup trucks a year, and the company’s CEO stated that those results would “make sense." A consistent number of customers would come from the lines of those that have bought a truck in the past and discovered it was more than what they needed.
Hyundai is not the first automaker to choose a unibody design for a pickup truck, and the decision makes sense when you consider what most users do with these vehicles.
Meanwhile, clients who want more from a pickup truck than a drive to the mall and the drive-in can still go for body-on-frame models, but other automakers build these.
Instead of making a cumbersome vehicle, which might not feel at home on paved roads, Hyundai preferred to build a workhorse that should drive just like a regular automobile.
Thus, while not being able to two massive weights or to carry them in its bed, the Santa Cruz’s production version will provide the functionality of a pickup truck without the hassle and the driving experience of one.
At this point, Dave Zuchowski, the President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, has confirmed that the brand has made a decision regarding the design of the Santa Cruz’s production version. Hyundai is expected to show it at the Los Angeles Auto Show or at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show.
According to Motor Trend, the production version of the Hyundai Santa Cruz will come to market as a 2018 or 2019 model. The latter variant is less likely, considering that the platform for this model is already on the market.
Hyundai’s internal estimates believe that the brand could sell anything between 50,000 and 70,000 pickup trucks a year, and the company’s CEO stated that those results would “make sense." A consistent number of customers would come from the lines of those that have bought a truck in the past and discovered it was more than what they needed.
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