Why Hyundai Will Build the Santa Cruz Pickup - AutoGuide.com
“We’re very anxious to do something with the idea,” Mike O’Brien, Hyundai Motor America’s VP of product planning said. According to O’Brien the Santa Cruz concept is the result of 18 months of planning and isn’t just a fancy model. “The engineering feasibility work has been done,” he said, commenting that it’s based on an existing crossover platform. That platform is likely the very same one that underpins the Tucson and O’Brien admits that the trucks specs are, “very similar to a sub-compact CUV. SEE ALSO: Hyundai to Improve Fuel Economy 25% by 2020. Hyundai currently doesn’t offer any diesels in North America, but that could very well change with the introduction of the Santa Cruz. “This particular platform could have the diesel shown which is in production today,” said O’Brien. While O’Brien said Hyundai has a wide variety of powertrains that could work in this platform application, “The diesel is the most promising because of the fuel economy it delivers. “It best matches in our research of what these customers are looking for,” said O’Brien. “Outstanding fuel economy, good torque and good driveability. In a way this is a useful comparison since they both are low on torque, but really an RX-8 buyer is an RX-8 buyer. Source: www.autoguide.com
