When you think of utes, you’re unlikely to have a luxury car brand at the top of mind. Mercedes-Benz’s X-Class was a flop, and BMW has steered clear of entering the competitive market.
But we almost got a Genesis ute, with the brand having last year said it did a design study for a dual-cab pickup, which has now been followed by a reveal of what it could’ve looked like.
Images uploaded to Instagram by Anh Ðinh Hoàng – taken from Auto & Design magazine – show Genesis’ planned electric ute, designed for the North American market with obvious design cues from the brand’s wider model range and recent prototypes.
This includes the two horizontal bar lights at the front and back, though the concept appears to have been also penned with innovative storage solutions in mind, such as an opening grille and side steps.
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The magazine claims the Genesis pickup was designed with a “chassis based on two side members”, effectively making it body-on-frame, however it’s not known what existing platform it would’ve been based on, given Hyundai and Kia’s limited offerings.
According to the publication, the Hyundai group’s chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke said the pickup concept was discarded “because we had to focus on different projects. Maybe in the future, who knows.”
Late last year, Donkerwolke teased the upcoming reveal of the concept in the magazine, and added that the Genesis ute isn’t truly off the cards yet.
“We have decided it was not the right time yet,” the executive told Australian media including Torquecafe last year.
“We have some homework to do. We still have to take care of the core business, the core segments. And who knows, maybe why not? I mean, I can only tell you as a car fanatic, I have a lot of sports cars in my barn. I have also a very wide pickup as well.
“So even if I’m considered as a very suspicious marginal in Europe for having a pickup with more than 600-horsepower. It just tells you that all horizons and especially mine would not limit itself for the normal segments.
“But this said, one thing at a time. We first do the homework, the main, and then we will look into what all the satellites we can plug in onto the brand.”
It’s not known when Genesis penned the concept, but fellow Hyundai Group brand Kia has since launched the Tasman – to a critical reception – while Hyundai itself has made clear it wants to launch pickups and utes globally.
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