Hyundai said to be considering pickup
Yup. You read that right. According to the folks at Edmunds, Hyundai made a statement yesterday that a pickup truck might be in the cards, but it won't be available for a long time.The announcement by the Korean automaker comes the same day as a trade pact between the U.S. and Hyundai was announced. The pact, which we covered earlier, will lift tariffs on certain models, depending on engine displacement, over the course of the next few months and years.
Reuters quoted a Hyundai spokesperson as saying that, "We will conduct a feasibility study [on a pickup truck] as a long-term project." Again, such a project will be dependent on the elimination of financial restrictions, and considering that a tariff on models sporting three-liter or larger engines won't go away for another 10 years, you can expect to wait at least that long until you see one at your local Home Depot.
[Source: Edmunds]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bozo 7:18PM (4/03/2007)
WHY????
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Bryan 7:29PM (4/03/2007)
Why Not? I would buy one. It would probably be 17 times better and 26 times more modern than the Ford Ranger.
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HotRodzNKustoms 7:30PM (4/03/2007)
Good for them.... and I care why??? Not only is Hyundai a company I pay zero attention to and 2017 or so is so far away we might by driving fricken' flying cars by then!
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DNA 7:42PM (4/03/2007)
Did you hear that?
It's the now-familiar sound of pins dropping in Detroit.
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DPC car videos 7:45PM (4/03/2007)
If its anything like the recent concept and upcoming cars we have seen lately from Hyundai, then it is sure to be a winner.
http://www.dpccars.com
DPCcars
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KJC 7:55PM (4/03/2007)
I agree, more headaches for Detroit but it also has to show some concern from Toyota and Nissan.
I think Honda will not be in the pick- up truck biz for long.
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Sandeep 8:12PM (4/03/2007)
The more competition, the merrier.
Also brings more credibility to Hyundai, as it will have offerings across the market (passenger cars, SUVs, Minivans, and Trucks).
All it needs now is a true sports car instead of the Tiburon.
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Brian W 8:22PM (4/03/2007)
It's not even designed yet and people think it's the best already. When are people going to wake up and quit buying the Hyundai hype? Have you noticed their sales are been going down for months with big rebates?
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stan 8:38PM (4/03/2007)
I'm no fan of either high-UN-dai or HYOON-dae, and I've been watching so many Fifth/Top Gear clips lately I've forgotten which I'm supposed to use, but a hot little growly low-slung number blasted by me on the freeway a month or so ago. I thought I was mistaken when in the second I had to look I saw that encircled H on the back.
No so long ago a tiny sedan was stopped next to me at a light. I noticed it was rather handsome in a no-nonsense sort of way. I wasn't aware such things were possible anymore. It too, had the H.
One hears of Toyota fearing the coming juggernaut from the Tiger Economy, and that the Hyundai perpetually shocks the press by being more satisfactory than Euro makes like VW and Mercedes.
If the people getting all this press and making those nice little cars decide to put together a real, no nonsense truck-based truck I'd have to look into it. Actually, I've been meaning to head down to the Hyundai people just to get up close and personal with some of their offings. I'm not really in the market right now, but those guys are up to something. It might be good.
Oh, and remember, Falcon is to Mustang as Elantra is to Tiburon ... while I'm still waiting for the "Mustang" to the Focus.
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Bryan 9:11PM (4/03/2007)
This is a joke right? Toyota failed. Nissan failed. Honda failed. If they want a truck, better make it a midsize or less because otherwise it will have no chance. If Ford would get off their butts and create a new Ranger, it would be the sales champ once again. It is pretty much the last one left on the old Ford vine now, so I expect something good in the future. Hyundai, ha. Truck? bigger HA!
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Bob R. 9:38PM (4/03/2007)
Bryan, I am really hoping that by 2017 the Ford Ranger will be redesigned. That, along with no B segment car is the weak spots in the Ford lineup.
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Iduntkaremuch 12:24AM (4/04/2007)
Hyundai's are good, If you plan to keep them until pay off( and you had better not drive them past 100K... I had 2, a 99 GLS V6 Sonata, and a 2001 base Tiburon... Tibby tranny about dead at 103K, and the Sonata had radiator failure, alternator failure at 87K, recirculation vent failure, at 55K, I paid 350 to get gas tank takeen off, and value replaced, to recirculate gas fumes back into tank...watch the kooks come out and say I'm lying...bu if I said Cobalt blew up at 10,000 miles, 9 out of 10 would say"Yep, Junk").
Noce cars, but you have issues.
New tranny is not cheap, so we dumped the Tiburon.
99? It was paid off, and we dumped it, too, after replacing the radiator for 350 dollars, and a quick trip to Toyota...car started all 3 times( they would start it, run it 1-2 minutes, turn it off, and talk to us again... 3 times in 1 hour).... hope they enjoyed the car... it was not running well( there was GRAY fluid, tranny, supposedly, in the engine and radiator from the old radiotr leak... ggot through the lines in the radiator, and mixed coolant!!!!!! They did NOT flush the engine, or re-fill it, either... after putting on the new radiator, got tired of the bull....... and decided to dump it before it blew up, or something.... 119,000+ miles, 5 years old).
Only Hyundai I know of that sounds safe is the SG's 300 and 350 and new Azera, but for 25-30 K, they hade better be good.
This truck has been on many sites, "future cars" like Motortrend, Intellichoice future cars... said 2009. They have a Kia plant going up...why not use it for the trucks?
Whatever.
They'll do it, and sell them.
Saels were up in March, records for both companies.
I'll wait for Suzuki's SX4 sedan or Frontier rebadged as a Suzuki(with 7/100K warranty)... in a year, or less.
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Owain Ozymandias Buck 9:53PM (4/03/2007)
I hear you about the Ranger. Dang. At least give us the diesel from Brazil. I'd buy an 80's model if it had that diesel in it!
Hyundai could do good by returning to a true SMALL pickup. Nobody makes a true compact any more.
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Jaymez 10:27PM (4/03/2007)
Only Americans can build a truck pick up truck. 99% of all contractors trucks are American.
What's next? Is Honda going to try and build a truck? The Ridgeline sure ain't foolin' anyone.
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EnviroBob 10:30PM (4/03/2007)
Kia had a pick up on the auto show circuit a few years back, so this is something that they have obviously been thinking about for a while.
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Barney 11:01PM (4/03/2007)
I imagine it will be more of a daily driver like Honda's Ridgeline. Their time waiting, is probably to see how long some Americans will continue driving their pigs. The days of a big, heavy and cumbersome pickup for a daily driver, is limited. As one poster indicated, only Americans drive them anymore. (I assume he didn't include the shrinking Canadian market.)
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kmrtnsn12601 11:06PM (4/03/2007)
I think that there was a lot of smoke in Hyundai's comments. For one, why import a pick-up, they can build one here and avoid the duties. If they import, why not attack the missing light pick-up segment, everyone remember those great, cheap, and small import pick-ups, from a few years ago? With gas expected to top $4.00/gal this summer there is going to be a lot of demand for small, inexpensive work trucks. Another thought, Kia is part of Hyundai now, there'll be a full-size V-8 Mesa next year; Hyundai/Kia already has the motor and a platform for a mid/full size pick-up, putting a bed and cab on the Mesa platform is a no brainer. Hyundai/Kia could also make a quick Honda Ridgeline/Dodge Rampage clone in a heartbeat that would come in thousands less than any competitor. 10 years my @#$$! Hyundai/Kia will have a pick-up in one form or another before 2009.
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porsche911 11:09PM (4/03/2007)
first toyota, then honda, and now hyundai?
so whats coming next? A KIA "truck"
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Sam 7:20PM (5/10/2007)
"The days of a big, heavy and cumbersome pickup for a daily driver, is limited. As one poster indicated, only Americans drive them anymore. (I assume he didn't include the shrinking Canadian market.)
Posted at 11:01PM on Apr 3rd 2007 by Barney"
You're correct-that's why American Pickups are big, but getter better mileage, drive better and have better utility than their Asian counterparts.
Good Luck to Hyundai-they seem far better at hitting the mark faster than the Japanese manufacturers.
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Bryan 11:48PM (4/03/2007)
Hey Bob maybe if you read once in a while you would know the mazda 2 and a Ford derivitave are not so far away from being here. Is that all you really got? I am actually surprised that Ranger sales have not increased due to gas prices. It's not a bad truck, just old and tired. Maybe Ford is right, the compact/midsize truck is a thing of the past.
Buck..uh the Ranger is compact.
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