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Back when Hyundai first revealed the Santa Cruz concept back in 2015, enthusiasts like us have been eagerly anticipating a production model and initial enthusiasm was strong. Over the years, with little news to go on and no concrete release date, interest has waned and fans questioned if it would go into production at all. Well, Hyundai claims the Santa Cruz pickup is still coming, we just have to be patient.
Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai’s CEO back when the concept was first revealed, pushed hard for the Santa Cruz to join then brand’s car heavy lineup and it seemed to have worked because the decision was green lit for a 2018 arrival as a 2019 model. Then Zuchowski was replaced as CEO due to poor sales in the U.S. and the pickup’s plans fell through without its primary champion. There’s still interest in delivering such a vehicle.
“We love it,” Brian Smith, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor America, told Motor Trend in an interview last week. “We talk about it a lot.”
But going from concept to the showroom floor is slow going and “we have a lot of product development going on,” said Smith. “We need to prioritize.” At this point, we’re looking at a sale date sometime in 2020.