[BahamaTodd]

As of July 21 "Santa Cruz" is officially trademarked at the US Trademark Office.
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov
Trademark serial # 86388490

Word Mark SANTA CRUZ
Goods and Services IC 012. US 019 021 023 031 035 044. G & S: Motor vehicles, namely, automobiles and structural parts therefor
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 86388490
Filing Date September 8, 2014
Current Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition July 21, 2015
Owner (APPLICANT) Hyundai Motor America CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 10550 Talbert Avenue Fountain Valley CALIFORNIA 92708
Attorney of Record Howard N. Aronson
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Getting closer.

 

[Colin]

Always nice to see these official steps being taken.

 

[Santana]

This is exactly what we needed to see, one of those things leading up to the official confirmation of the project getting underway.

What do you think the next thing is that we could hear?

 

[BahamaTodd]

What do you think the next thing is that we could hear?

Well we know the factory expansion in Alabama has already begun. They just need to officially announce it. Even if they do make the announcement soon, I'm thinking the announcement might only talk about the capacity expansion, but minimal detail on what the expansion is for until later in the year.

 

[Santana]

I was thinking they might thin out information leading up to the official announcement especially after the trademark filing which is something I though would get a Hyundai exec to speak on.

 

[Colin]

I was thinking they might thin out information leading up to the official announcement especially after the trademark filing which is something I though would get a Hyundai exec to speak on.

Thin out information? Do you mean release details very slowly over the time approaching the vehicle's release?

 

[Santana]

Release details very slowly. It helps to build up hype for the official day and something I can see them doing.

 

[Colin]

Especially since this vehicle is something pretty new to the north american truck market. They will be able to milk that for quite a lot of teasers.

 

[Santana]

I don't know about quite a lot, quite a lot would be more suited to a core volume product like the Elantra, Sonata, etc.

 

[BahamaTodd]

There have been rumors about a plant expansion under way, but apparently they are in talks for something else much bigger, and the final decision has yet to be made about where it will be.

Here's a comment from the Mayor of Montgomery Alabama where one of Hyundai's factories is located. An announcement is still expected "in the coming weeks".

Hyundai's economic impact on Alabama soars

Following the press conference, Strange addressed a possible expansion Hyundai may make in the North American market, which he said he felt good about Montgomery being part of that conversation.

“I think the thing we can and should say is that when and if Hyundai makes the decision to invest additional resources in North America, we will be in that equation,” Strange said. “Other communities will be talking about what they can bring to the equation, but I feel confident that we will have a good opportunity to state our case about expansion.”

Back in May, Hyundai CEO Dave Zuchowski said he was concerned that there aren't enough trained workers in the area and a new plant would "burden" the labor force.An announcement from Hyundai is expected in the upcoming weeks.

“Obviously, that would be a big investment,” Strange said. “It may be in the $1 billion range, so I don’t think that it would equate in the first year to $2.4 billion, but I believe it would get us in that $1 billion range.”

 

[BahamaTodd]

Maybe their plan is to keep saying "expect an announcement in the coming weeks" for the next two years, holding everyone in anticipation... lol

 

[Colin]

Yea, hand out a darkened picture of a headlight, a silhouette of the profile, etc... And they should be set.

 

[Santa]

Not sure how long we can wait with a little teasing picture here and there. Maybe we'll hear a bit more at the frankfurt auto show?

 

[BahamaTodd]

The Santa Cruz is a US project. I wouldn't expect to see anything about it overseas.

 

[Santana]

The Santa Cruz is a US project. I wouldn't expect to see anything about it overseas.

I had a feeling there might be the potential for that to happen, guess I was wrong.

 

[Santa]

When is the next auto show after November? If the Santa Cruz does get approved, I assume it will be shown at a few of the larger shows after November.

 

[BahamaTodd]

Assuming it gets the official go-ahead in November and it takes two years of development, that means it would come out as a 2018 model year vehicle. We wouldn't see a production version until late 2016 or early 2017.

The major US auto shows are:

Detroit: January
Chicago: February
New York: March
Los Angeles: November

The Texas state fair (October) is usually popular with manufacturers for truck reveals, but considering that Texas was least receptive of the SC, I wouldn't expect anything to happen there.

If we don't here anything soon, they might just wait until the LA show which is at the end of November. LA is also much more fitting for the SC.

 

[Santana]

With that sort of timeline it has me wondering what else we could see show up in this segment, i know mercedes has been one of the brands that proposed a similar idea... unless it was speculation that seemed to be going somewhere solid.

 

[BahamaTodd]

Ford was rumored to be working on one. I wouldn't be surprised for them to reveal a production ready compact truck based on the Escape at the 2016 Detroit show ready for sale later in the year.

 

[Santa]

Are you talking about Ford's mid-size Ranger truck?