Hyundai Motor America’s vice president of corporate and product planning has confirmed executives have given the green light to a production version of the popular Santa Cruz concept.
Speaking with Reuters, Michael J. O’Brien confirmed the pickup will be offered in the United States but declined to say when it will arrive. While that’s slightly disappointing, the announcement is big news for Hyundai as it will become the company’s first foray into the highly competitive truck market in the United States.
Little is known about the truck at this point but the Santa Cruz concept was positioned as a lifestyle vehicle similar to the Honda Ridgeline. If the production model takes the same approach, it will have to battle the Ridgeline as well as more traditional competitors such as the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier.
Besides talking about the truck, the report says Hyundai will introduce a redesigned version of the Santa Fe Sport next year. It will reportedly be joined by an all-new seven-seat crossover which will replace the Santa Fe in early 2019. Further down the road, a redesigned Tucson is expected in 2020.
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