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As you might have seen, Hyundai is getting serious about trucks. It showed off the Boulder concept at the New York International Auto Show this week as proof, with a body-on-frame design, independent front suspension, a solid rear axle, and 37-inch tires. It’s unclear exactly what will make it from that concept to production, but Hyundai explained that this is a precursor to its midsize pickup that’s coming by 2030. The automaker has learned from past experience that you really have to nail the formula to sell a truck in the U.S. of A.
These were lessons learned from the recently canned Santa Cruz. Hyundai Motor America Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy Olabisi Boyle explained this to The Drive in a short convo. “That was going to be a lifestyle truck, and it was going to be our first entry,” she said. “We did some learning. I think, from a design standpoint, people liked it. I think from the interior, people liked it, even versus Maverick.”
The soon-to-be-gone Santa Cruz is good in a lot of ways, but it never could compete with the Ford Maverick on sales. Adam Ismail
Where Boyle concedes that the Ford Maverick had the upper hand was with the powertrain:
“The Maverick had the HEV [hybrid electric vehicle], and that helped it a lot. And so now, as we’re going into body and frame, we know capability matters. We know the platform matters. We also know that we need to bring something in addition to that because of the brand loyalty of people who buy these types of vehicles. We need to understand what weaknesses that we can do better than the leaders are. And so I think how we’re approaching this is a little bit different mindset than when we were doing Santa Cruz, because we wanted to deliver a vehicle, kind of tiptoe into the waters, have great design.”
We wondered before why the Santa Cruz didn’t get a hybrid, and in a conversation with Boyle last year, she agreed that’s what people want from small trucks. So why didn’t Hyundai build one? That’s still unknown, but you’d have to imagine it was possible since its Tucson platform mate has an electrified option. Certainly, it’s an odd choice, and when we asked her about it this time around, she explained, “At this point, I wouldn’t go into it, but I would just say our strategy as we design things now, as we are going forward, is considering all those things from the beginning, and we’ll definitely have it.”
The Boulder concept is a far cry from the Santa Cruz, though Hyundai believes it’s what American customers want. I have to say: It’s a whole lot closer. Hyundai
Boyle and the rest of Hyundai seem confident that the body-on-frame truck will fare better than the Santa Cruz did. One thing that’s for sure, though, is that it will have to come correct if it hopes to fight against Toyota and all the domestic players who continue dumping money into the midsize space. There’s no free lunch in those categories, whether you’re talking about pickups with the Tacoma or SUVs with the Bronco and Wrangler.
Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com
From running point on new car launch coverage to editing long-form features and reviews, Caleb does some of everything at The Drive. And he really, really loves trucks.
