Hyundai Heads Way Off-Road
- Adam Bernard
- Apr 8
- 1 min read
It seems to be almost impossible to keep a secret these days, but that's just what Hyundai did with the cleverly-named Boulder concept unveiled at the New York International Auto Show. With a midsize body-on-frame pickup confirmed "by 2030", my hunch is that they brought the Bronco-esque SUV to New York to gauge customer reaction.
You may recall that the Santa Cruz was described by Hyundai as "one of the most researched concepts we have ever done." Unfortunately, I think the six-year gap between the unveiling of the concept and the launch of the production might have hurt the chances of the success; the continued strength of the Maverick and cancellation of the Santa Cruz would seem to support that hypothesis.
Hopefully for Hyundai, this will all work out better than the Kia Tasman, a rare misstep for the brand. Selling less half their target in Australia, the Tasman was burdened by polarizing styling, strong competition from established players, and higher-priced entry-level models.
The potentially interesting twist here ties into last year's New York surprise: the Genesis Gran Equator concept. With Infiniti, BMW and Audi all reportedly working on offroad-oriented SUVs to tackle the Land Rover Defender, Genesis could easily leverage this hardware to enter the segment as well. Since they're already dabbling in motorsports and bespoke capabilities, why not broaden their reach?
I always enjoy chatting with Richard Truett about "What if?" and he goes into further detail about Hyundai's plans here...
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