While it hasn’t quite reached the sales numbers of competitors like the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline, the Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup has done pretty well for the Korean brand, especially as a funky breakthrough into such a cutthroat segment. I see the little trucks everywhere in the Northeast, and clearly people are enjoying them. Hyundai sees the Santa Cruz as establishing the brand’s presence in the pickup segment, and now it’s hoping to capture way more of those important consumers with a brand-new body-on-frame midsize pickup for the U.S. market that will arrive before 2030.
In a speech at the company’s Investor Day, CEO José Muñoz spoke about a number of future plans for Hyundai, ranging from factory investments and new technologies to announcing a slew of new models and upcoming electrified powertrains. But this as-yet-unnamed big sibling to the Santa Cruz has our interests especially piqued. From Muñoz’s comments, it sounds like this body-on-frame truck will truly be made with the U.S. in mind; it won’t just being a version of the company’s upcoming Central and South American-market trucks created in collaboration with General Motors, but maybe it could use the platform of the Kia Tasman pickup that’s sold in Australia and the Middle East. (Given that Hyundai said nothing about this truck being fully electric, it likely won’t be related to Kia’s upcoming EV pickup.)
A new truck is exciting
In the address, Muñoz talked about the North American midsize pickup market as a massive opportunity for Hyundai. He said:
Pickup trucks represent a whitespace opportunity we are ready to capture. The midsize truck segment is one of the largest and most profitable in the industry. Since launching Santa Cruz back in 2021, we’ve gained valuable experience and brand presence in this segment. Now we’re preparing to launch a new body-on-frame model before 2030 to build out our truck portfolio with the potential for a leisurely variant. This expansion allows us to broaden our reach and connect directly with customers at the heart of the U.S. market.
Of course, while the midsize pickup market is profitable, it’s also crowded. The Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma are all battling for the same customers, and that’s not counting the folks who’ve already opted for the more road-comfortable dynamics of a Maverick, Santa Cruz, or Ridgeline. In the presentation Hyundai said the 2.5-liter turbocharged hybrid powertrain that debuted in the 2026 Palisade would be used in this new pickup, which will surely help grab attention with its fuel-economy numbers, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the truck gets Hyundai’s upcoming range-extender hybrid as well. Nabbing those buyers still won’t be an easy feat. Perhaps that’s why Hyundai is also considering an SUV to share the new pickup’s platform — the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco and Toyota 4Runner all do quite well, so this may be an example of the Korean company not putting all its eggs in one basket.
Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis have been on a hot streak recently. If the company can learn from its moderate success with the Santa Cruz and release a truck that Americans truly adore, maybe it’s the best chance of another automaker breaking in to the middleweight pickup segment.
