- The new model will compete with the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
- Hyundai Australia recently indicated the model could be a hybrid.
- Underpinning the new mid-size truck will be a ladder-frame chassis.
Hyundai’s body-on-frame mid-size pickup has been circling the rumor mill for years, but the company’s Investor Day presentation earlier this week finally put some meat on the bones. The Korean automaker spent the session laying out where it plans to spend money through the end of the decade, and the truck came up as part of a much larger product blitz.
The company announced it will introduce more than 100 new or refreshed models by 2030, including at least 58 launches in North America. Key areas it’s targeting are so-called ‘white spaces,’ parts of the market that it’s yet to tap into. One of these voids will be filled by a body-on-frame pickup, which will launch in the next three years or so.
Read: Hyundai’s New Pickup Truck Will Be Everything The Santa Cruz Refused To Be
Executives from the brand have acknowledged plans for a new mid-size pickup in interviews for quite some time, although they continue to play coy on the details. The new model will target rivals such as the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, and Isuzu D-Max on the global stage. There has been some speculation that it could share its architecture with the Kia Tasman, although this has yet to be confirmed.
Going Hybrid?
During an interview with Car Sales, Hyundai Motor Company Australia chief operating officer Gavin Donaldson acknowledged the automaker is late to enter the mid-size pickup segment and indicated its model will be hybridized.
“There’s no doubt we’ll be late to the party, that’s the reality,” he said. “So when we do come to the party, we want to make sure everyone sees us when we walk through the door, and I think the powertrain will be the key from that point of view. I think realistically, in our eyes, a hybrid or an EREV would be what we would be looking at.”
During its investor presentation, Hyundai confirmed that several range-extender models are in the works, including an EREV version of the Santa Fe, an EREV from Genesis, and a C-segment SUV in China with a range-extender. Should it wish to make the pickup an EREV, it could easily borrow it from one of its other models.
