Hyundai ute no closer
Korean brand’s first dual-cab 4x4 ute rival for Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux still a while awayHyundai has watered down speculation that it will release a dual-cab 4x4 ute in the immediate future.
In a briefing with journalists on Tuesday, Hyundai Australia chief operating officer John Kett said that while he would indeed like to add a ute to the local range, talks with head office have not progressed beyond an initial expression of interest.
That is despite persistent speculation that both Hyundai and sister company Kia are developing their first direct rival for the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.
While image renderers have been kept busy by the speculation, Kett said a tray-back production model was not in the immediate pipeline.
“They [Hyundai head office] are incredibly sensitive just by us having the conversation,” Kett explained.
“There isn’t really any development in the story. Nothing has happened since the last time we chatted. The story hasn’t changed.”
Kia Motors Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith has been vocal about his request for a full range of petrol and diesel utes with multiple body styles to rival one-tonne workhorses like the HiLux – Australia’s top-selling vehicle.
He previously said the first Kia ute could even hit the market before the Hyundai version as early as 2021, but later said that might not happen until 2023, and since then has apparently been muzzled by his masters in Korea.
Hyundai Australia this week also poured cold water on the chances of the lifestyle-oriented Santa Cruz being produced in right-hand drive for this market, despite previously saying it was now keen on the model after initially ruling it out.
A spokesman at this week’s briefing watered down the relevance of the US-market Santa Cruz to Australia too.
“Santa Cruz is not being made in right-hand drive, but we remain interested in that vehicle, for sure,” he said.
“We’ve explored all options we can with all products for our market, and I think we do that as a discipline for anything we see on the product horizon.
“For Santa Cruz it was certainly a niche product but I think it would an interesting offering. There are some impressive powertrain options and it looks like it will be a capable here.
“But at this stage it is not available in right-hand drive and certainly not to the scale we would require.”
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