The final decision on whether the Hyundai Santa Cruz will see the light of production will be reached by late summer.
After a positive reception at the Detroit Auto Show, Hyundai Motor of America is lobbying its parent company in South Korea to put the unibody pickup into production, according to Edmunds. They’ve even determined a way to fast-track development by putting the truck on the existing Hyundai Tucson platform.
Basing the Santa Cruz on the Tucson’s chassis would save approximately two years of development time, estimates Scott Margason, yundai Motor America’s director of product planning.
The result would be a compact ute smaller than the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier and the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon, filling an abandonded niche once rife with compact Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger pickups. However, with a monocoque body the ride and handling would be more like that of a car-based crossover. Hyundai believes most Santa Cruz buyers would not need a traditional pickup’s body-on-frame construction, seeing it as more of a lifestyle vehicle for outdoorsy types.
The Tucson is available in either front- or all-wheel-drive with a choice of either a naturally aspirated 164hp 2.0L four or a 182hp 2.4L four. Sadly, the 5-speed manual option was recently discontinued as it would be a good fit for a compact pickup. However, a diesel is under consideration for the Santa Cruz, as the concept was powered by a 190hp 2.0L turbocharged inline-four diesel.
Images by Brian Williams.
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