Hyundai boss locks in timeline for dual-cab ute

Hyundai’s long-rumoured ute has been given a more concrete timeline, but Australians will need to remain patient. Hyundai Australia CEO, Don Romano, has confirmed the company’s first-ever ute will be revealed before he returns to Canada in or around June 2027, extending what’s already been more than a decade of waiting and speculation.

As Hyundai marks nearly 25 years in the Australian market, Romano admitted the brand is arriving late to the pick-up truck party but says plans are now 'at full steam'.

The Canadian executive explained that his visa expires in around two and a half years, and that he has already named Hyundai Chief Commercial Officer, Gavin Donaldson, as his successor, adding that the new ute’s reveal will occur before or around that transition.

“Whether it’s a month after I leave or it’s here when it is a guaranteed ‘here’s the date, here’s the vehicle, here’s the differentiating features’,” Romano told journalists.

“If they produce what they are, what we’re talking about at this stage, and what we’re working on, it’s going to be mind-blowing,” he declared.

Romano said the brand is well aware of the competition it faces, with Australia being one of the most demanding ute markets in the world.

“When you come out with a ute, you can’t come out with the same thing,” he said.

“You’ve got to look at the best vehicles in the market, the best utes in the market. Who are the two biggest players? We all know who they are, and that’s who you have to position yourself with,” he said, referring to the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

While speculation has linked Hyundai’s ute to the Kia Tasman, Romano ruled out any simple badge engineering.

“I mean we could easily take another platform and just go out there and badge it, and that’s just not acceptable,” he said.

The new Hyundai pickup won't get diesel power, and Romano also shot down rumours of a General Motors partnership for the Aussie product.

“I don’t think we’re going to share a platform,” Romano said.

“I don’t believe that’s an option. I think I have to leave [discussions] on the table just in case something goes wrong,” he said, hedging his bets.

“But that would not be our main goal. Our main goal is to develop our own Hyundai ute with our own technology. And the size we’re looking at would be in the Ranger/HiLux [category].”

With a CEO as outspoken as Don Romano, expect Hyundai to continue drip-feeding updates about its long-awaited pick-up project. At least until mid-2027 when the brand finally pulls the covers off what could be one of the most anticipated new models in years.

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