Sleeping giant: The new brand that could shake up the ute market

Hyundai will enter the ute market by the end of the decade. Image: ComGen

Looking at the best-selling brands in Australia, those at the top of the charts have one thing in common – a ute.

Toyota, Ford, Mazda and Mitsubishi were four of the top five biggest brands in 2024 and the fifth, Kia, will have its Tasman ute in showrooms by the middle of the year. It demonstrates that success in the Australian market goes hand-in-hand with giving buyers what they want, and Australians love dual-cab utes.

Which brings us to the biggest brand not currently in the market – sixth-placed Hyundai.

The brand has given up trying to hide its desire to add a ute to its local line-up. Originally there was some hope that the Santa Cruz could be offered here, even though the Tucson-based model was smaller and not as work-focused as the likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. But that hope was quickly dashed as the Santa Cruz is restricted to the left-hand drive US market, so instead Hyundai Australia is pushing ahead with plans for a radically different ute.

Hyundai Australia was unable to offer the Santa Cruz

An all-electric ute has reportedly the brand’s next big thing, with the Ioniq T7 and Ioniq T10 nameplates already trademarked in anticipation, with work on the project underway for several years now.

However, the continued lack of official confirmation of the program suggests it’s still several years away from hitting showrooms, and could possibly be undergoing some major changes after the lukewarm reception to electric utes around the world.

Hyundai’s decision to join the ute party late may be good news for it though, with the disappointing performance of the likes of the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and others, it makes it clear that buyers are simply not ready for all-electric utes. Instead, the most recent comments from Hyundai suggest the brand could pivot to a plug-in hybrid to take on the Ranger PHEV and BYD Shark 6 head-to-head.

Plug-in hybrids, like the BYD Shark 6, are expected to be the future of utes

To be candid, the only thing we know for certain about the upcoming Hyundai ute is it won’t be diesel-powered. With stricter emissions standards around the world, and in Australia with the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES), it simply doesn’t make sense for a newcomer to enter the market with a turbo-diesel engine anymore. Less-efficient diesel engines will need to be offset by low-emissions vehicles like plug-in hybrids or EVs, so it makes sense for Hyundai to offer an electrified ute, even if they aren’t as popular at this moment in time. There is an expected shift as NVES makes a bigger impact in the market in the second half of this decade.

We do also know that while Hyundai opted not to partner up with Kia for its own version of the Tasman, for this new electrified ute it is expected to be developed in collaboration between the two brands so both can have a lower emissions ute alternative as the market begins to shift.

Whether Hyundai follows through with its all-electric plans, swaps to a PHEV or ultimately offers both, the arrival of another big-name brand into the ute market will only create more competition and will give buyers even more choice.