It’s been three years since Hyundai unveiled the
stunning Santa Cruz concept at the North American International Auto Show but
it’s not going to arrive in showrooms anytime soon. Speaking with Motor Trend,
Hyundai Motor America COO Brian Smith said “We talk about it a lot” but a
production version of the pickup won’t arrive this year or next year. This
means the earliest that the model could arrive would be in 2020.
The truck was reportedly slated to arrive this year
as a 2019 model but Zuchowski was fired days before Christmas of 2016. This
reportedly caused plans for the truck to stall before being revived in 2017.
Since so much time has passed, it remains unclear
how faithful the production model will remain to the original concept. In fact,
little is known about the truck but the report suggests it won’t be offered
with a diesel engine. That’s not too surprising but the concept featured an
“environmentally-friendly” 2.0-liter turbodiesel that produced 190 hp and 406 Nm of torque.
When the Santa Cruz finally goes into production, it
will face a number of new competitors including the Ford Ranger and Jeep
Scrambler. The model will also have to fend off other challengers such as the
Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan
Frontier. Volkswagen has also hinted at the possibility of entering the highly
competitive segment as it unveiled the Tanoak concept at the New York Auto
Show.
