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  • Drew Dowdell
    Drew Dowdell

    Hyundai Truck "Coming Soon"

      ...keep holding your breath...

    Hyundai first showed the Santa Cruz pickup truck concept at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show and has teased the truck to the public in the 4 years since its debut.  Now it seems that the Vice President of Product, Corporate, and Digital Planning is saying the Korean auto maker is expecting to enter the U.S. truck market soon with a model built in North America, and possibly in the U.S.  Hyundai already builds the Santa Fe crossover in Montgomery Alabama. 

    The Santa Cruse that was shown at NAIAS was a crossover vehicle similar to the Honda Ridgeline and featured a 2.0-liter turbo diesel engine, a tailgate which could extend out further from the truck, and rear hinged rear doors. Given that Hyundai has already canceled plans for the diesel Santa Fe, don't expect one to make it into the Santa Cruz. 

    There is still no timeline for introduction or production of the consumer version, so if you're holding your breath for this truck, you'll have to keep holding a bit longer. 

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    Why is Hyundai doing this?  Have they not seen the poor sales of the Honda Ridgeline?  Nobody here wants to buy a minivan disguised as a pickup truck.  Truck buyers want a BOF truck, not this.

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    1 hour ago, riviera74 said:

    Why is Hyundai doing this?  Have they not seen the poor sales of the Honda Ridgeline?  Nobody here wants to buy a minivan disguised as a pickup truck.  Truck buyers want a BOF truck, not this.

    They are up 300 sales over last year with 15,255 sold year to date. If engineering is not much effort, than they very well could turn a profit at 30,000 units a year. Compared to many of MB products that sell 200 to 300 a month or 2400 to 3400 a year.

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    2 hours ago, dfelt said:

    They are up 300 sales over last year with 15,255 sold year to date. If engineering is not much effort, than they very well could turn a profit at 30,000 units a year. Compared to many of MB products that sell 200 to 300 a month or 2400 to 3400 a year.

    Compare Ridgeline sales to those of a Ford Ranger or the Colorado/Canyon twins.  That would make a lot more sense.  The F-series sells more in one month than the Ridgeline sold this year.

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    11 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

    Compare Ridgeline sales to those of a Ford Ranger or the Colorado/Canyon twins.  That would make a lot more sense.  The F-series sells more in one month than the Ridgeline sold this year.

    I understand that, yet if an auto maker can make a profit and business case on just a few thousand a year, I am sure Hyundai can make a business case for 30,000 plus per year.

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    They should advertise it as a “Ute” or El Camino remake. Don’t try and sell it the the traditional truck buyers, that won’t work. I like this thing actually but then, I’m not much of a truck guy. I prefer sedans with two doors. 

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    9 minutes ago, 25ThTA said:

    They should advertise it as a “Ute” or El Camino remake. Don’t try and sell it the the traditional truck buyers, that won’t work. I like this thing actually but then, I’m not much of a truck guy. I prefer sedans with two doors. 

    Exactly.  This may sell as poorly as a Ridgeline, but the new guy gets it.

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    Sure, you can say that but it’s a segment that’s untapped. Hyundai could make it into something that everyone else abandoned years ago. I think Australia Proved it was viable until Holden shut down.  I’m ready for an El Camino SS equivalent.  Chevy could build one off the  Blazer and I’d buy it as my daily driver and let my Camaro 2SS spend more time in the garage. 

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