Santa Cruz might eventually get a bigger brother.
Although the Santa Cruz is often referred to as the first Hyundai pickup, it’s not true. The Porter, also known as H-100 in certain regions, is a cab-over truck that has a rear-wheel drive and is primarily sold in South Korea.
Hyundai is a well-known company for its expertise in the development of workhorses. However, the Santa Cruz will be a lifestyle vehicle and not a full-fledged utilitarian model. A larger pickup is possible in the future, as Hyundai has many options. This was revealed by SangYup Lee, Hyundai’s head of global design.
He isn’t the only high-ranking Hyundai official to discuss the possibility of a larger truck being placed above the Santa Cruz. Albert Biermann, Hyundai’s global head of research & development, suggested that a one-ton truck could be used to transport the new straight-six diesel engine found in the Genesis. It is available in certain markets with a 3.0-liter engine that produces 278 horsepower (207 Kilowatts) as well as 434 pound-feet (588 Newton meters) of torque.
This engine can be used for many purposes. We also make commercial vehicles, so this engine will still be available for quite some time.”
Although your guesses are as accurate as ours about the style direction that a larger truck would take in styling, Hyundai’s design team is on fire lately. Based on the Tucson, the Santa Cruz will look very interesting. We also need to mention the Creta STC that was unveiled in 2016.
The Creta Sport truck Concept, as seen here, was also small and was designed with South American markets in mind. The Santa Cruz will be based upon a crossover. The STC began as a Creta, but was enlarged and widened for the bed. The STC also considered the possibility of a lifestyle-oriented unibody truck, with a touch of sportiness in the vein of the Santa Cruz.
A larger pickup might drop the car-like monocoque in favor of a rugged ladder frame setup. However, SangYup Lee stated that he would prefer a combination of both.