The automotive giants announced they were exploring potential partnership opportunities in September last year, which led to speculation that Hyundai would follow Kia in launching a ute.
In a media statement overnight, the pair confirmed a total of five vehicles will be co-developed between them, with the first of the models to launch in 2028.
The five vehicles will be a “compact SUV, car and pickup, as well as a mid-size pickup” with the potential to be powered by engine-only and hybrid powertrains, while an electric commercial van will also be developed.
However, while Hyundai Australia has said its future ute won’t be diesel and has hinted at its offering being a “different ute” compared to what’s currently on sale, there is potential for it to not be related to the vehicles announced today.
In the joint release, Hyundai and General Motors said the two pickups will be developed for Central and South America, rather than a global offering.
“We study all models and their feasibility for our market, but at this time we are not in a position to confirm any local plans to launch the vehicles being co-developed (Hyundai and GM) for the Central and South American markets,” a Hyundai Australia spokesperson told Torquecafe.
This doesn’t totally rule out a local launch in the future, as we’ve seen utes sold in the Americas also offered here, such as the BYD Shark 6.
It does however mean we will have to wait a while to see a Hyundai ute from its General Motors partnership, as it’ll not only need to launch in Central and South America first, but then also be developed for right-hand drive.
“Hyundai’s strategic collaboration with GM will help us continue to deliver value and choice to our customers across multiple vehicle segments and markets,” Hyundai Motor Company president and CEO José Muñoz said.
“By partnering together, GM and Hyundai will bring more choice to our customers faster, and at lower cost,” GM senior VP and global chief procurement and supply chain officer, Shilpan Amin said.
“These first co-developed vehicles clearly demonstrate how GM and Hyundai will leverage our complementary strengths and combined scale.”
As reported last week, Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano ruled out using the Kia Tasman as a starting point for its own ute.
“I mean, I can’t answer from an R&D perspective on a global basis because we are looking at utes on a global basis, so anything could change. But our position here in Australia is that we don’t need another diesel ute,” Romano said.
“But we do want Kia to be successful, because right now we see a decline in the total ute sales. And that could delay the development when people look at it and say, ‘is that really an important segment that we need to be in?’
“The answer is ‘yeah’ and we want to be able to point to our sister company to say, ‘look at the success that they’ve had’. Just having an open bed, you know, I think that’s important.
“But for us, we just don’t think it’s gonna be advised to come out with the diesel based on the Tasman body. So we want to look at different options, but that takes an extra year and it’s worth the time.”
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