Photo: Kleber Silva on Behance
Produced in West Point, Georgia for the North American market, the Sorento is one of the best-selling Kia nameplates in the United States. The same can be said about the Santa Fe for Hyundai, which is made with pride over in Alabama alongside a disruptor of the SUV segment.
I am - of course - referring to the Santa Cruz pickup truck for the 2022 model year. Revealed to great acclaim from the automotive media and crossover customers that would like to try something different, the Santa Cruz is expected to be joined by a Kia-badged sibling in a few years' time.
Two years ago during the 2019 New York Auto Show, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Kia Motors America told our friends at Motor Trend about the possibility of a crossover-based pickup truck. “It's a long way down the road. We think that there's enough opportunity,” he said, adding that Kia is currently focused on becoming a strong SUV brand.
Reading between the lines, they’ll unveil the all-new Sportage with Tucson underpinnings before kicking the pickup program into overdrive. Whenever the inevitable happens, you can surely bet that Kia will borrow plenty of exterior design cues from its current SUVs for the sport adventure vehicle.
Concept artist Kleber Silva rendered the upcoming model with Sorento influences up front and out back, giving us a good idea about the Santa Cruz-twinned pickup. Not as wild as the Hyundai, the Kia looks a little bit more subtle because of the tiger-nose grille devoid of thin strips of LEDs.
Customers are likely to be offered a couple of engine options in the guise of the 2.5-liter Smartstream GDi and T-GDi, along with an eight-speed automatic and eight-speed DCT. However, both Kia and Hyundai will have to fend off a soon-to-be-revealed competitor from the Ford Motor Company.
Maverick is how the Escape-based newcomer will be called, and spy shots of the compact pickup truck suggest a longer bed for superior practicality. The downside to the Maverick is the list of engine options, likely consisting of the 1.5- and 2.0-liter EcoBoost mills from the Bronco Sport off-roader.
Two years ago during the 2019 New York Auto Show, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Kia Motors America told our friends at Motor Trend about the possibility of a crossover-based pickup truck. “It's a long way down the road. We think that there's enough opportunity,” he said, adding that Kia is currently focused on becoming a strong SUV brand.
Reading between the lines, they’ll unveil the all-new Sportage with Tucson underpinnings before kicking the pickup program into overdrive. Whenever the inevitable happens, you can surely bet that Kia will borrow plenty of exterior design cues from its current SUVs for the sport adventure vehicle.
Concept artist Kleber Silva rendered the upcoming model with Sorento influences up front and out back, giving us a good idea about the Santa Cruz-twinned pickup. Not as wild as the Hyundai, the Kia looks a little bit more subtle because of the tiger-nose grille devoid of thin strips of LEDs.
Customers are likely to be offered a couple of engine options in the guise of the 2.5-liter Smartstream GDi and T-GDi, along with an eight-speed automatic and eight-speed DCT. However, both Kia and Hyundai will have to fend off a soon-to-be-revealed competitor from the Ford Motor Company.
Maverick is how the Escape-based newcomer will be called, and spy shots of the compact pickup truck suggest a longer bed for superior practicality. The downside to the Maverick is the list of engine options, likely consisting of the 1.5- and 2.0-liter EcoBoost mills from the Bronco Sport off-roader.
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