Hyundai Santa Cruz ute not ruled out for Oz

Hyundai hasn’t given up on bringing the Hyundai Santa Cruz dual-cab ute to Australia.

It’s not the sort of vehicle you’d expect to see parked up at Aussie worksites full of timber or towing heavy loads, but the Hyundai Tucson SUV-based ute is still of interest as a unique model for the Aussie market.

The Santa Cruz would also provide the Korean brand with more ammo to fast-track a long-desired, larger and more capable ladder-chassis Hyundai one-tonne ute to take on the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.

The smaller Santa Cruz has just been launched in North America priced from $US23,990 ($A33,210).

And despite production limited to left-hand drive markets at present, the Santa Cruz hasn’t been ruled out for Australia – unlike its rival, the Ford Maverick.

“We think there is, of course, an opportunity in that car, albeit a little bit niche,” Hyundai Australia product planning general manager Andrew Tuitahi told carsales.

“It’s just not possible at the moment.

“We’ve looked at it multiple times, it’s something we’ll look at semi-regularly, as there are a lot of cars in our global stable that intrigue us, and we look at business cases for them what feels like almost quarterly.”

The Hyundai Santa Cruz is powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine – either turbocharged (205kW/420Nm) or naturally aspirated (142kW/244Nm) – and combines with an eight-speed automatic transmission (torque-converter or dual-clutch, depending on powertrain).

Both front and all-wheel drivelines are offered.

While there’s no diesel engine option in the US, logic would suggest the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder (137kW/416Nm) in the new Tucson could be transplanted, given both vehicles share the same platform architecture.

There are four trim levels in the US with an equipment list that reads more like an SUV than a ute, with digital instrument clusters, remote control parking assistance and plenty of advanced safety features on offer.

The latter include a blind spot video feed from both mirrors, lane keep assist, lane following assist, adaptive cruise control, safe exit warning and rear occupant alert.

However, in contrast to your typical workhorse ute, the Santa Cruz also has a fully independent suspension, a small tray (1323mm long) with a 730kg payload, and a towing capacity limited to 2268kg – far less than the 3500kg most Australian buyers expect in this category.

It wouldn’t be the first time a US-centric Hyundai vehicle was later developed for right-hand drive markets, as demonstrated by the new Hyundai Palisade.

The Palisade is built in South Korea, which helps it cause. But even though the Santa Cruz is only manufactured in the US at present, Tuitahi said this wouldn’t be an impediment to future right-hand drive development.

“The North American manufacturing facilities would definitely have the ability to carry left- and right-hand drive. It’s less about the factory that it’s built in and also the total of the issues involved – development for [relatively] low volume, plane complexity, sourcing of various parts, things like that.”

Early sales of the Hyundai Santa Cruz have been strong in the US, and the more affordable Ford Maverick is expected to draw a huge audience.

Small car-based utes such as the Subaru Brumby have also sold well in Australia – and have an enduring popularity in the used car market – which is clearly keeping Hyundai interested in bringing the Santa Cruz Down Under as the long wait for a bigger Ranger and HiLux rival continues.

Related: Hyundai Santa Cruz ute teased