First Hyundai ute confirmed for 2021

Hyundai has confirmed its first ute, the Santa Cruz, will enter production in 2021 – six years after it was first shown at the 2015 Detroit motor show.

To be built in the USA following a $US410 million ($A600m) upgrade to the Korean car-maker’s Alabama factory, the car-based dual-cab ‘lifestyle pick-up’ was previously ruled out for local release by Hyundai Australia, which instead has its sights firmly set on a rugged ladder-frame one-tunne ute to rival the Toyota HiLux.

While top-selling HiLux and Ford Ranger have five o'clock shadows, Santa Cruz is a clean-shaven metrosexual.

Now, however, Hyundai Australia appears to have warmed to the idea of the Santa Cruz, although it’s yet be confirmed for right-hand drive production.

"We look at all product launches overseas – that's something we study as a matter of course," Hyundai Australia marketing director Bill Thomas told carsales.

"We always look at the suitability for the local market and this product is no different. We study every international product that is launched," he told carsales.com.au.

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz pick-up follows the playbook that spawned vehicles like the Subaru Baja in the US and, to a lesser extent, Australia’s own Holden Crewman – a four-door ute based on the Commodore.

That means that, like the concept that previewed it, the Santa Cruz will ride on a monocoque or unibody platform (potentially shared with the next Tucson). Therefore its towing capacity, ground clearance, tray size and off-road capability and durability will play second fiddle to driving dynamics, refinement and ease of parking.

According to the official Hyundai press release, the Santa Cruz ute will appeal to people who want the "traditional attributes of a compact utility vehicle, but need the day-to-day versatility of an open bed".

Hyundai hopes to win over SUV buyers who want more versatility from their vehicle. The car-maker is labelling the Santa Cruz as a crossover vehicle that will create a new segment by combining "capability and utility to meet the unspoken needs of a new generation of buyers, especially Millennials".

Hyundai’s move to build the Santa Cruz ute in the US means it will avoid the ‘Chicken Tax’, which slaps a 25 per cent tariff on any imported light-duty trucks sold in the US.

The news doesn’t ring the death knell for Hyundai’s HiLux rival, which is being aggressively pursued by its Australian arm and its sister company Kia Australia.

The bigger, more capable ute would compete against the top-selling HiLux, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton in Australia’s booming ute secotr, offering a similar range of body styles, drivetrains and payloads, plus a 3500kg towing capacity.

Research and development has already begun for the Korean one-tonner, which will be available in both Hyundai and Kia forms here and would also be sold across Asian markets.

"Work has begun," Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith told carsales recently. "We're talking about a pick-up -- dual-cab, single-cab. What we’ve requested is the full gambit of a ute -- diesel and petrol."

Exact launch timing remains unknown for the Hyundai ute, which will be followed closely by the Kia version, but Australian executives have said they hope it can be fast-tracked from 2023 to as soon as 2021.