Hyundai Pickup Back on Track

Hyundai Motor Co.’s on-again, off-again pickup truck is back on.

The compact vehicle is in development and will be launched as soon as possible, Hyundai Group chief design officer Luc Donckerwolke tells Autocar. He says design work is complete and that the company now is focusing on putting the vehicle into production.

In October, CEO Wonhee Lee said basic engineering work on the pickup had begun but that the project hadn’t received final approval. At the time, Lee indicated it would take 32 months to launch the truck, meaning the second half of 2021.

Donckerwolke says a Kia version of the vehicle also is being considered.

Both trucks would be built at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Ala., plant and share a unibody platform with the redesigned Tucson crossover due in 2020. The Hyundai pickup would be modeled after the brand’s 2015 Santa Cruz concept (pictured).