Hyundai's on-again, off-again plans to bring a pickup to the U.S. market are... um, off again, and possibly for good this time. The news that neither Kia nor parent company Hyundai will offer a pickup should not come as much of a surprise, considering the sorry state of affairs in the U.S. truck market. Timing, as they say, is everything, though Honda's unibody Ridgeline pickup has actually weathered the storm well. A possible front-wheel-drive unibody truck competitor from Korea could have offered another fuel-saving choice for U.S. consumers who like the utility of a pickup but balk at the poor fuel mileage of the standard-fare full-frame rear-wheel-drive platform. Hyundai's not ready to take that bet, though, according to company CEO Kim Dong-Jin, who says, rather succinctly, "now is not the right time to produce a pickup truck." The Kia plant in West Point, Georgia will likely be used instead for the production of Hyundai passenger cars like the Sonata, which shares a platform with the Kia Optima that's already planned to be built at the plant.[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Frylock350 @ May 9th 2008 8:49AM
The Silverado gets better fuel economy than a Ridgeline. I fail to see the advantage of these unitbody pseudo-trucks.
RMc @ May 9th 2008 10:03AM
Looks like you need to spend some time looking up numbers at fueleconomy.gov
Ridgeline (4 Dr - AWD) : 15 cty/20 hwy
Silverado (4 Dr - 4WD) [4.3L]: 14/18
Silverado (4 Dr - 4WD) [5.3L]: 14/19
Silverado (4 Dr - 4WD) [6.0L]: 13/17
Both are bad, but the Silverado is slightly worse.
One major advantage of a unibody is savings in weight which is apparent:
Ridgeline (4 Dr - AWD): 4513 lbs
Silverado (4Dr - 4WD): 5326 lbs
Both are classified by the EPA as "Large Pickup"
How about Kia come out with a small unibody pickup equivalent in size to what a Toyota Tacoma was 15 years ago? Now that, I bet, would sell!
The Luigiian @ May 9th 2008 10:10AM
The advantage of a truck like the Ridgeline is mostly perceived, in the same way that people buy Explorer Sport Tracs because they figure a smaller vehicle must get better gas mileage.
That said, this is a horrible thing to do to small-truck fans. Our U.S. compacts are horrendous, oversized gas-guzzlers, and no company will make us anything better because they either want us to buy their full-sizes (as in Ford and Chevy's case) or are afraid to.
I've given up on ever getting a Ranger. I wanted one for years, but I'm becoming resigned to the fact that my fellow Americans believe I should just buy a Camry and shut my mouth.
Jason @ May 9th 2008 10:41AM
@ The Luigiian, I'm consistently getting 28mpg in my 2008 Ranger in mixed, though mostly highway, driving. The recent addition of a toneau cover appears to have increased that a bit too. If I didn't get stuck in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic a few times a week, I'm sure I'd be pulling down 30+.
It IS a 4-banger, 5-sp, regular cab though...
Frylock350 @ May 9th 2008 12:16PM
Ridgeline is lighter because its much smaller. Unibody is no guarantee of being lighter. Case in point, a 7 series is about the same weight as the physically larger Lincoln Town Car. What unibody does offer is weaker structure, a less absorbent/smooth ride, etc.
Silverado 2WD is 15/20 and the majority of pickups sold are 2WD.
A good little truck was the first gen S10. They were BOF real trucks and the Syclone was just sick.
MikeW @ May 9th 2008 3:01PM
No one ever said that the Honda Ridgeline was a good example of a unibody truck.
Terrible transmission selector-prevents towing 5K lbs.
Independent suspension-good for handling/ride
It doesn't weigh that much, 4500lbs. (and if Honda decided to drop the VTM+4, it would save a little over 200lbs)
Crappy dual beam headlights
handy dual function tailgate
ability to have two spare wheels.
Your rant about the TownCar vs. 7 series is wrong.
The TownCar is very space inefficient. Small Gas tank, very user un-friendly trunk. Large overhangs, terrible aerodynamics, etc.
The 7-series has a superior ride/handling combination than the TownCar (due to unibody, which has a higher bending/torsional strength)
Yes 15/20 in the rear drive Silverado, but what tall axle ratio, 3.42? Why not make a front drive Ridgeline-compare that to a C1500.
Dave @ May 10th 2008 7:58AM
Those GM trucks are the best. I saw the Hyundai truck on the news last night and it was kind of neat looking. I don't think they would find enough buyers in this still crowded market so its best they cancelled.
Chris @ May 9th 2008 9:10AM
I figure it this way, the market is pretty well sorted out with only Toyota having made inroads; and that after many years; so Hoonday/Kia probably didn't want pay the piper in a slowing economy.
BlackbirdHighway @ May 9th 2008 9:19AM
"unibody" and "pickup truck" do not go together at all.
Unibody car-made-to-look-like-a-truck is more like it.
But tha'ts ok, people love those things, just like the RAV4 car-made-to-look-like-an-SUV.
SPG @ May 9th 2008 9:50AM
Although the Hyundai/Kia truck that we would of got in North America was really just a pretender it would of been nice to have more selection.
A&W @ May 9th 2008 10:00AM
Maybe if the G8 sport truck does well Hyundai or another car company will do a front drive version of it on thier sedan platform. Maybe a front drive Chevy El Camino off of the Malibu platform.
Avinash machado @ May 9th 2008 10:10AM
Well the Mahindra truck will be available shortly.
John R @ May 9th 2008 10:14AM
I really think Hyundai would be financially justified in bringing a Ranger size pick-up uni or BOF with something like a 170-180hp/140-150 lb ft 4-pot.
My understanding is that the market is kinda bare in this area.
Schmeltz @ May 9th 2008 10:28AM
"Timing, as they say, is everything, though Honda's unibody Ridgeline pickup has actually weathered the storm well."
This is off-topic pertaining to this article, but I gotta say, there's that media adoration of their beloved Ridgeline pick-up again. Total 2007 sales of the Ridgeline were a whopping 42,795. Chevrolet sold 37,231 Silverados last month alone, and this is one of the toughest markets Pick-ups have ever seen. The Ridgeline is expensive for its segment, and only offers one engine. That said, it appears to be well made, and probably suits most of the 42,795 customers that bought them. But to listen to the media, they just adore this thing. Motor Trend will defend to this day their infamous decision a few years back of making this the "truck of the year". I always get a chuckle when I read something about the Ridgeline.
Menice @ May 9th 2008 10:28AM
dang, me too i was realy hoping for something the size of my old B2200.
everything else is too large.
TMC @ May 9th 2008 10:42AM
+1
All we have left is the Ranger & B-Series. The "mini" trucks I had in the 90's all got upper 20's on the highway, and could take a beating like no other!
Martman @ May 9th 2008 11:52AM
The ranger is gone at the end of this model year i am sure. So that really leaves only the Tacoma and the GMC/Chev. Which are all more expensive and NOT and economy truck.
Old school Mazda b2200 cab plus from the early 1990's delivered very good mileage, with very few frills. The north american standard has now been set so high with fancy trucks trucks and horse power, but with gas prices In Canada at almost $6.00/gallon for regular many of us would welcome the return of such a truck
Xacto @ May 9th 2008 12:23PM
Let's compare apples to apples, as much as we can. People (and the automotive media) are forgetting that the Ridgeline is REALLY meant to compete with MID-SIZE TRUCKS, not full-size. Like the Toyota Tacoma. And the Honda's fuel economy (dis)advantage compared to those trucks is slightly greater.
Toyota Tacoma 4x4 Crewcab:
V-6: 16/20 mpg
Even relative to the full-size trucks -- it has no appreciable advantage in efficiency. I just checked on autos.yahoo.com --- you can find the GMC Sierra Crewcab (2WD) listed with fuel economy of 15/20, just like the Ridgeline. And if it outweighs the Ridgeline by 1000 pounds, and still gets the same fuel numbers, something is definitely askew with the assumption that "Unibody Trucks get awesome gas mileage."
In fact -- to make the Ridgeline's minivan underpinnings strong enough to tow and carry a decent payload, the "unibody" design had to be overly-reinforced and strengthened to the point that it actually OUT-WEIGHS all of its mid-size body-on-frame competitors. But nobody talks about that.
What really gets good fuel economy numbers? THREE THINGS!
1) Light Weight Vehicle
and
2) Efficient Drivetrain
and
3) Low Coefficient of Aerodynamic Drag
Both can be achieved with a body on frame just as easily as with a Unibody. The fuel economy numbers of today's truck offerings prove this.
Anti-believer @ May 9th 2008 12:55PM
Thank God! I was really worried.
42 @ May 9th 2008 1:06PM
I had a '79 Toyota pickup. it ran forever and got about 25mpg. mini-trucks were everywhere then. where are they now? you'd think there would be a market for something smaller and cheaper than a Tacoma/Frontier/etc.
there will always be a market for pickups, but not always for massive $45,000 luxo-trucks.