Hyundai Australia has walked back its promise to finalise plans for its first ute by the end of 2025, delaying the decision due to tariffs and shifting market demand.
Back in May, Hyundai’s local chief Don Romano told CarExpertthe Korean automaker would lock down plans for a new mid-size ute to rival the top-selling Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux in both Australia and overseas markets by the end of this year.
However, the Hyundai Australia CEO was more circumspect when quizzed on the brand’s new pickup at the recent launch of the Ioniq 9 large electric SUV, citing a decline in demand for utes Down Under.
“Right now we see a decline in the total ute sales, and that could delay development,” said Mr Romano, who previously said a diesel ute based on the new Kia Tasman was less preferable than an all-new model with hybrid (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or battery-electric (EV) power.
CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Clickhereto get a great deal.
Above: 2020 concept render
“I don’t think the world needs another diesel ute… so we want to look at different options. And if that takes an extra year, that’s worth the time.
“I can’t tell you whether that’s a PHEV, an HEV or a BEV, but I think those are options that have to be considered.
“Look at what the [BYD] Shark 6 [PHEV ute] has done. Look at what they’ve sold in the last three months compared to Hilux and Ranger… it’s almost unit for unit. So it does say that there is a market for a different technology out there, and that’s been our position.”
In Australia, sales of mainstream four-wheel drive utes (108,105 units) were actually up 0.1 per cent this year to the end of June, although 4×2 ute sales (11,613) were down 16.9 per cent.
Mr Romano also pointed to uncertainty around trade tariffs as a reason for Hyundai’s hesitance to commit to a new ute for global markets.
“The delay right now that we have is not knowing what’s going on with the tariffs in the world right now. So yes, there could be a further delay,” he explained.
“We’ve seen an agreement struck with Japan, with the US and Japan, with the US and Europe, all agreements have been struck.
“We do not have an agreement with South Korea and the US, so that’s going to have ripple effects across the globe for us if not resolved relatively soon.
“There’s a lot of issues at play right now with our company on a global basis that are going to have to be resolved before I can say definitively I think we’ll have this resolved in X number of months or years.”
Since we spoke with Mr Romano, the US has come to a trade agreement with South Korea that will see goods (including cars) imported from the US to South Korea slapped with a 15 per cent tariff – lower than the 25 per cent originally threatened by US President Donald Trump.
Despite the latest round of setbacks, Mr Romano says ‘there’s wiggle room’ in the timeline for Hyundai’s new ute to arrive in Australia by 2029, as originally planned.
And Hyundai remains committed to the development of a new mid-size pickup to tackle some of Australia’s and the world’s most popular vehicles.
“We’re working at full speed on this,” concluded Mr Romano.
“We want to get the tariff issue resolved, but ute is right under it. And not just for Australia.
“When people look at and say, ‘is that really an important segment that we need to be in?’ The answer is yeah, we do.”
Several options are still on the table at Hyundai HQ. A battery-electric ute is already in development, and its likelihood of being sold in Australia was bolstered by atrademark filingfor the Ioniq T10 nameplate here last year.
Hyundai already sells the petrol-powered Santa Cruz ‘lifestyle’ dual-cab (pictured above) – based on theTucson mid-size SUV – in the US, but it hasn’t been earmarked for right-hand drive production thus far.
There’s also the possibility of a ute born out of the new partnership between Hyundai and GM.
However, Hyundai has now ruled out a re-skinned version of the turbo-diesel Kia Tasman, which was officially launched in Australia a fortnight ago.