Remember the Hyundai Santa Cruz pick-up truck concept from the Detroit Auto Show at the beginning of the year? American automotive portal Edmunds is now reporting that should it get a green light for production – a decision on which is expected to be made by late summer – it will be based on the Tucson‘s monocoque architecture, rather than the ladder frame construction used by competing models.
Billed as a “crossover truck,” the Santa Cruz is said to be aimed at buyers who want the aesthetic of a pick-up, but without the ruggedness (and the roughness, we’d assume) of a traditional body-on-frame truck. It will reportedly share the Tucson’s platform and many of the latter’s components to cut development time by about one or two years, compared to building a unique architecture from the ground up.
“We would not be starting from scratch with this vehicle, that is fair to say,” said Hyundai Motor America’s director of product planning Scott Margason “[There is] a lot of active work going on within the company in terms of whether we take that concept to production.
“We introduced the Santa Cruz in Detroit and that vehicle was very well received, not only during the show but since then. We got a lot of consumer feedback from it — very positive.”
An industry source was cited as saying that Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski has been urging the South Korean management to build the Santa Cruz – Automotive News reported that the US executive gave the prediction of a go-ahead for the truck’s production.
The company is in the midst of conducting market research for the vehicle, as well as deciding on the powertrains to be offered – the concept utilised a 190 hp/406 Nm 2.0 litre four-pot turbodiesel claimed to be able to achieve a fuel consumption figure of 12.8 km per litre.
2016 Hyundai Tucson
Hyundai’s supposedly slow US growth has been attributed to a shortage of crossovers – its SUV lineup currently consists of the new third-gen Tucson, the Santa Fe and the shorter Santa Fe Sport – to cater to growing demand.
The Santa Cruz is seen as part of the solution, targeted at lifestyle usage rather than commercial buyers. “We tend to refer to it as more of an open-utility vehicle,” Margason said. “It is a personal-use vehicle.”
This wouldn’t be the first pick-up truck to be built on a unibody architecture – the Honda Ridgeline, launched in 2005, also rides on a passenger car platform, based on the US-market Pilot crossover.
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Means this is all look no go type of pick up?
well suitable for light pick up I guess
they better build it real fancy else just price it cheaper because it ain’t a real pickup…
My sales at UMW are so bad. Now this car come out, habis lah my Hilux. I guess my only friend now at nights are my dildo.
Tail lights copy Acura’s front lights design
Please make this. I’ll buy one.
even the kimchi can make good cars now adays,
looking back to our national car makes me cry 365day /100years
Same old story. Boring la….
Nice! Best looking pickup truck.. way way 10000x better than hilux..
If they have the size of current pickup, and dump in the comfort of sedan… I’ll buy one.
I dont need 1 ton carrying capacity… my office/golf bags aint that heavy
If golf bags and computer bags are all you carry…why do you even need a pickup?
Of course for fun. What the heck are you thinking?
Need I say more ……
Just a bling bling car.
wrong chasis, wrong engine.
just cannot enter offroad.
like a tiger without tooth.
Ever heard paper tiger?
The ridgeline was a failure, as was the actyon. Build a pick up with a ladder frame and you’ll get yourself a Hilux beater. Otherwise you’ll fail Hyundai, big time.
The picture is not a Tucson, it’s a Santa Fe
That is the new Tucson. Look closer.
This one I will not even accept trade in