Two months ago Hyundai confirmed plans to introduce a new pickup truck, which will take inspiration from the Santa Cruz concept that debuted in 2015. Hyundai hasn’t announced all the production details, but reports have surfaced that a high-performance truck is also possible, although it’s doubtful that the U.S. will get it.
Andrew Tuitahi, Hyundai Australia’s head of product planning revealed to Motoring that Hyundai is looking at adding a more powerful engine to its upcoming pickup. “When we feed back [to Seoul] with key criteria, one of the elements is cabin appointments, another is engine performance,” he said. “What we’ve seen typically is a four-cylinder diesel workhorse, but we’re watching Amarok come with a V-6, the Ranger Raptor with a 2.7-liter V-6 turbo maybe.”
Of course before Hyundai gives the green light for a high-performance truck, it wants to evaluate how other high-performance trucks are received, like the Ford Ranger Raptor.
“Definitely it’s something we’re mindful of and we’ll watch that space and see what customer acceptance is. They’ll be quite pricey and we’ll need to see if people are willing to pay for those performance trucks. Right now big volume is diesel segment, but when cars like Ranger Raptor come to market it will be interesting. If it’s anything like an F-150 Raptor it will be very cool!”
Source: Motoring
