Official: Hyundai Oz rules out 'lifestyle' ute

With Holden's Commodore-based Ute soon to follow Ford's Falcon Ute into retirement, Hyundai's upcoming Santa Cruz dual-cab utility vehicle may have seemed like an easy sell in Australia.

Indeed, just last week Hyundai Australia told motoring.com.au that the crossover 'lifestyle' ute, which has now been confirmed for production in the US, remained under consideration Down Under, even if a 'proper' ladder-frame one-tonner to rival Toyota's dominant HiLux was its preferred option.

Now Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) COO Scott Grant has declared the Tucson-based tray-back unfit for service Down Under, deeming the model too “small and lightweight” for local consumption.

“The Santa Cruz is not in any way suitable for Australia, therefore it is not even being considered for this market,” announced Grant.

“From our point of view we want a proper HiLux, Ranger, Navara type of product, and the Santa Cruz won’t work for us. It’s too small and lightweight. We just don’t think it’d sell – Australian consumers won’t go for it.”

Hyundai does not currently offer a commercial ute in its local portfolio, where its only light commercial is the iLoad van, and says that a one-tonne ute is still a while off as it deals with more pressing priorities such as introducing the Genesis premium brand.

“Our organisation has been focused on strengthening its existing product range – passenger vehicles on a global basis – and commercial vehicles have been a subsequent priority,” Grant emphasised.

“The Santa Cruz is important for us only because as Hyundai moves further into commercial vehicles, the development of a ute, the knowledge and the intellectual property and the learning and understanding that will go with it will mean we will be more advanced than say five or 10 years ago, and I’m sure we can then leverage that into the future,” he proffered.

Grant added that a joint-venture with an existing ute manufacturer was “not currently on the agenda”, ruling-out a 'badge engineered' model like the Nissan Navara-based Renault Alaskan, which will also form the basis of Mercedes-Benz's first one-tonner.