Hyundai lifestyle ute firms

News from the US suggests that Hyundai is about to green-light a production version of the compact Santa Cruz ute concept, but its Australian future is far from assured.

The CEO of Hyundai Motor America, Dave Zuchowski, recently told The Detroit Bureau that focus groups in the US are in love with the idea of a sporty small-sized Hyundai ute.

"There is a very high probability we [will] get the approval of the truck soon," Zuchowski explained, in the strongest message yet that the striking 'lifestyle' ute is set to become a reality.

Pitched at crossover and SUV buyers in the US, the Hyundai Santa Cruz is quite different to the most popular utes in Australia – light commercial one-tonne vehicles such as the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara. Based on the monocoque chassis of the ix35/Tuscon small SUV, the Santa Cruz has a compact tray and will favour on-road driving dynamics over off-road capability.

In other words, tradies in Australia are unlikely to see the point.

And that's been a sticking point for Hyundai Australia, which was hoping to capitalise on the 200,000 light commercial utes sold in Australia annually, or around 20 per cent of national new car sales.

It was thought that Hyundai's top brass would choose only one type of ute going forward. With the car-based ute appearing to be virtually a done deal according Zuchowski, a commercial ute was understood to be off the agenda.

However Hyundai Australia's general manager, public relations, Bill Thomas, told motoring.com.au that the approval of the Santa Cruz "doesn't necessarily rule out a one-tonne ute".

"We still have our hand up for a HiLux rival, and while the Santa Cruz is a US-centric concept it's seen as a safer bet for the US market at the moment."

Thomas said that in Australia a ute like the Santa Cruz concept wouldn't sell as strongly as the one-tonner but if the car-based compact ute was approved for right-hand drive (RHD), "we'd love to bring it here".

He cautioned that the concept is still not officially confirmed and "if it is approved, where will we build it? The US factories are at capacity."

There's talk it could be built at Hyundai's upcoming factory in China and although Thomas says it would be a great addition to the Australian line-up, he warned "right-hand drive will be a tough sell for such a vehicle" due to the low volumes expected in RHD countries for it.

But Thomas argues that the pleasure-seeking Santa Cruz ute is a "good step" to a larger ute, and that the local arm of the company is continually lobbying for such a vehicle.

"If Hyundai built a Toyota HiLux rival after [Santa Cruz] it would get it right. It would be the right size, have the right capacities, towing capabilities and it would be extremely competitive. We've shown what we can do with vans like the iLoad, we can do commercial vehicles very well."

A major hurdle for a one-tonne ute is that it would require an all-new platform. Unlike the upcoming Mercedes-Benz ute, which will be based on the Nissan Navara, Thomas says Hyundai wouldn't platform-share with another auto maker.

There was shock and even displeasure within Hyundai Australia when the company saw the Santa Cruz ute for the first time at the 2015 Detroit motor show.

Hyundai Australia's chief operating officer, John Elsworth, who spoke to motoring.com.au at the unveiling of the Santa Cruz ute concept in January was none too impressed: "Obviously there's a bigger market for more of a workhorse in Australia. We'd like a commercial vehicle, not a passenger-derived ute," he said.

Hyundai was the fourth top-selling new car maker in Australia in 2014, in a market with more than 60 brands. It was only slightly behind Mazda and Holden, with Toyota in top spot. Hyundai wants to depose Toyota from the number one spot, but without a HiLux rival this objective is impossible.

Thomas believes a one-tonne Hyundai ute would sell in huge numbers both here in Australia and elsewhere.

"I think because of our brand strength and how we approach car design and development, a light commercial ute would see us sell many, many more vehicles."