Thursday, 14 January 2016

Hyundai CEO: Santa Cruz Pickup Truck Headed For Production

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January 14, 2016 at 3:14 pm by | Photography by Michael Simari, the Manufacturer

Rumors that Hyundai would introduce a pickup truck to the U.S. market have swirled for years, but they always seemed to fall just short of reality. The rumblings typically centered around a full-size model, a bold and ballsy shot across the bow of the Detroit Three, yet at the 2015 Detroit auto show, Hyundai surprised everyone with a unique and very much not full-size truck. It’s called the Santa Cruz, and it boasts a unibody design, a compact footprint, and a diesel engine.

If you were a big fan of the Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup truck concept, then we have good news for you: The truck is going into production, and it’s only a matter of time before Hyundai makes the official announcement.

Hyundai says that it came up with the Santa Cruz’s basic format after “intently listening to customers” and recognizing their needs, and apparently enough of those folks wanted a CUV-type vehicle with a dirt-friendly place to stash cargo. Critically, those same people didn’t want to deal with a truck’s huge size, poor fuel economy, or price. Thus was born the Santa Cruz, one of the cooler-looking vehicles ever to be focus-grouped into existence. READ MORE ››

Speaking to Australian press at the Detroit Auto Show, Hyundai USA CEO Dave Zuchowski said that he was still waiting on a decision for when the official announcement would be made but that there isn’t a question of whether or not the Santa Cruz is going to head to production.

“It hasn’t been officially announced yet. Our timing is not crossing our fingers and waiting for approval, it’s trying to figure out when we’re going to announce it,” Zuchowski told the reporters.

This isn’t unexpected, as we already pretty much knew a production Santa Cruz was going to happen, but it’s encouraging to hear from the CEO that we’ll be getting an official announcement soon.

In production form, we expect the Santa Cruz to only offer one configuration—a four-door, SUV-based pickup with an extendable bed and seating for five. As far as towing capacity goes, it should be able to pull a jet ski or a couple of dirtbikes, but don’t expect it to pull more than 2500 pounds. Its capabilities are intended to be more in line with a compact crossover, after all, not a full-size pickup truck.

“Santa Cruz is intended to attract CUV [SUV] and sedan buyers who are seeking greater utility, without the compromises that traditional trucks often require,” Zuchowski told reporters.

Hyundai Santa Cruz Crossover concept

If that target demographic sounds similar to the one Honda is looking to attract with the new Honda Ridgeline, it is, but the two trucks likely won’t be direct competitors. We expect the Santa Cruz to be both smaller and cheaper than the Honda entry.

A version of this story originally appeared on Road & Track.

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