Hyundai Santa Cruz Pick-Up Tipped For Production
Around this time last year, Hyundai surprised everyone by showing off a truck concept at the Detroit Auto Show.
The Santa Cruz, which looked similar to a modern take on the El Camino, now looks as though it may ready to be greenlit as a 2018 production model, although Hyundai USA head Dave Zuchowski didn’t offer complete confirmation of that.
A number of major automakers are seeing some real sales success in the midsize pick-up truck market.
So good in fact that Ford are thinking of bringing the Ranger back.
Hyundai sees this as the perfect time to introduce a 5-seat dual-cab light duty truck of their own.
Zuchowski made it clear that the next step was an announcement, which suggests approval has already been given by Hyundai. What we are really waiting for now is a date when production will begin.
Truck lovers may think that the lack of a body on frame design doesn’t make Hyundai much of a player in the truck market, but the Santa Cruz will be sold as a lifestyle vehicle, as opposed to being a truck that does the heavy lifting of a work type vehicle.
The towing capacity of the Santa Cruz pick up will make it able to pull things like dirt bikes or jet skis, but it will likely not be able to pull more than 2,500 pounds. Think of the Santa Cruz as more of a compact crossover than a large pickup truck.
The target audience for the Santa Cruz will be CUV and SUV buyers, most of whom aren’t overly concerned with things like payload and towing capacity.
Possible release date of Hyundai Santa Cruz
Hyundai has yet to reveal when exactly is Santa Cruz pick-up going to hit the U.S. dealers, but we expect it to be launched late next year, as a 2021 model.
