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Hyundai ute future fluid - motoring.com.au
Hyundai ute future fluid - motoring.com.au
Despite reports to the contrary, however, it appears the future of Hyundai's first ute is far from fixed, with plenty of research and development ahead for the vehicle.
"The concept car is not a preview of the production car at all -- it was designed to show intent and gauge public reaction and test the styling concept," Hyundai Australia's director of marketing Oliver Mann told motoring.com.au during last week's launch of the i30 Series 2.
"The reaction to the [Santa Cruz ute] concept was certainly positive. We think that Hyundai intends to build a ute but nothing has been announced.
"The hard product planning, the review process is ongoing internally at HMC," he said.
It's clear there's still angst within Hyundai Australia at what some have called the US arm's hijacking of the ute project to suit its own aims.
"We've been lobbying for a one-tonne forever. We're very excited by the concept as we've seen it, but what we're seeing at the moment is more a lifestyle vehicle. In Australia that's probably a smaller volume niche – it's a tough sell here," said Mann.
Australians' appetite for one-tonne utes, known as mid-size pick-ups in the US, represents huge volume potential for car-makers and even Mercedes-Benz has just confirmed it will enter the fray with a Nissan Navara-based ute.