The Hyundai Santa Cruz is Probably Going to be a Midsized Truck

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
08/22/2017 at 11:50 • Filed to: Hyundai

Not to be a party Scoober but I wanted to throw out that the Santa Cruz won’t be a small crossover truckster. It probably won’t even be built on a crossover platform. Australia, South Africa, the US, and pretty much the entire world all demand a “real” truck. All signs have been pointing to Hyundai building a midsize truck that can compete with the Tacoma, Frontier, Colorado, Canyon, Ranger, Wrangler P/U, and of course all the trucks overseas.

Hyundai is not about to enter the truck market with an open cargo CUV. Come on now, you really think Hyundai...HYUNDAI can get away with introducing a truck that looks like a toddler trying to squat with all these powerlifters? I mean image is everything! It’s bad enough it will have to be a Hyundai in the most macho, image driven, brand loyal automotive segment on the planet. You’d sell more Bed-Wetter Edition Wranglers in a week than a wittle Hyundai picky-up for 40 year olds still waiting for their testes to descend.

You know it’s a bad idea if even I’m making fun of it.

More than likely we will have something that shares platforms with the upcoming Kia Telluride SUV which will likely replace the Kia Mohave (which we in the US knew as the Borrego for a year). This midsize pickup truck will use some styling cues from the Santa Cruz Concept but probably won’t even be called that.

I think the goal is to get the Xcient (pictured above) into the US market first, see how this upcoming midsize pickup truck does everywhere EXCEPT the United States, then possibly consider either importing the truck into the US halfway through its life cycle (if the taxes are eased or lifted), or assembling it in Alabama or Georgia alongside some other utilities. Either way we are talking about building maybe 10,000-18,000 trucks in the US to be sold across the entirety of the North American market. Small potato chips.

But hey, who knows what the future holds since it’s all about timing and visibility. I’m just trying to be reasonable over here. Can you imagine Hyundai taking over as the Official Truck of the NFL and rolling out a Tucson its but hanging out? Insult! Heck, Tom Brady didn’t even want a free Chevy Colorado!

Don’t let Kanye be right!!

DISCUSSION (8)

Nibby > Wobbles the Mind
08/22/2017 at 12:00

pls no giant grille like that

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
08/22/2017 at 12:09

According to the CEO of Hyundai Motor America , it is going to share a platform with the Tucson.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Wobbles the Mind
08/22/2017 at 12:29

Kinja'd!!!

Wobbles the Mind > Textured Soy Protein
08/22/2017 at 13:31

That guy has been fired and everything else is speculation based on the concept and doesn’t take any account of markets besides “sort of like a Ridgeline.”

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
08/22/2017 at 15:02

I just realized that article I linked was from last August and not just a few days ago as I originally thought. I see now that Hyundai just officially confirmed they will sell the Santa Cruz.

But, I think a body-on-frame truck is unlikely. Yes, Kia still sells the Mohave. It’s built in Korea, Russia and Kazakhstan. Any body-on-frame truck built outside the US would be subject to the Chicken Tax.

Different carmakers have gotten around the Chicken Tax with different loopholes, mostly for cargo vans, most of those loopholes won’t work on pickups. Hyundai would have to retool a US plant for body-on-frame production. That doesn’t seem likely.

B/Xmrrmvr > Wobbles the Mind
08/22/2017 at 15:24

I think it’s more likely that Hyundai would make the Santa Cruz for the US and a HiLux competitor for the Aussie/SE Asia market, where their vans sell competitively. But I also think that a Tucson-based pickup would not be a good idea and that it would end up like the Subaru Baja. I could imagine the production version being closer to a Santa Fe aka a Ridgeline alternative.

I just can’t see US truck buyers being open to a Hyundai Tacoma-alternative pickup when all of the other brands have “history/pedigree/heritage”, as opposed to the less uphill battle of going after buyers who are open to buy a crossover-based pickup from Honda.

B/Xmrrmvr > Wobbles the Mind
09/25/2019 at 21:28

Goddammit Wobbles, you called it 2 years in advance. Impressive.

https://leftlanenews.com/hyundai/hyundai-pickup-to-get-ladder-frame-chassis/

Wobbles the Mind > B/Xmrrmvr
09/26/2019 at 09:01

Swe eet! Now I can carry my filled pool floaties like a man !