The hardcore Hyundai Crater concept has been teased in sketch form ahead of its world debut at AutoMobility LA 2025 in Los Angeles this Thursday (4:45am AEDT on November 21).
Described as an “extreme off-road show vehicle”, the South Korean brand says the Crater “is a compact off-road SUV show vehicle that embodies capability and toughness” and a “design exploration that captures the spirit of adventure”.
“Inspired by extreme environments, the Crater Concept was conceived at Hyundai America Technical Centre (HATCI) in Irvine, California and has been crafted to amplify the same spirit and robustness found in Hyundai’s XRT production vehicles.”
Hyundai’s XRT vehicles are more off-road-capable, ruggedly styled versions of its SUVs, including the Ioniq 5 and Palisade, as well as the Santa Cruz ute.
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No other details were announced about the concept, which is clearly a rugged off-road wagon wearing Hyundai’s new-age pixel design theme.
However, Hyundai has made no secret of its desire to compete with the top-selling Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux by offering its first dual-cab ute, and it’s possible the Crater will preview a potential SUV version.
Speaking at Hyundai’s recent Investor Day, the company’s global chief José Muñoz confirmed the brand’s first pickup would be launched in North America before 2030, alongside a slide that stated “build-out pick-up truck portfolio and broaden customer base, with potential for body-on-frame SUV variant”.
That suggests the Hyundai ute will be released first, and it could be followed by a closely related SUV version – just as the Everest is based on the Ranger, the Isuzu MU-X is based on the D-Max, and the Toyota Fortuner is based on the outgoing HiLux (but won’t be replaced).
The Korean auto giant’s first ute is expected to be based on the Kia Tasman, which Kia itself has said it could spawn an off-road SUV if there’s enough demand, but Hyundai has made it clear it won’t simply be a rebadged version of the controversially designed dual-cab just to fast-track the vehicle into production.
“I’m not leaving until I have a ute, and not just any ute. I mean, we could easily take another platform and just go out there and rebadge it, and that’s just not acceptable, especially now,” said Hyundai Motor Company Australia president and CEO Don Romano at a recent media event for the new Palisade.
Mr Romano, who was appointed Hyundai’s Australian chief earlier this year, said in May the company would finalise its plans for a new ute by the end of this year.
A dedicated electric ute had previously been confirmed to be in development, and trademark filings for the nameplates Ioniq T7 and Ioniq T10 surfaced last year, but Mr Romano suggested that would be sold in addition to a traditional dual-cab in Australia.
“Whether we go with an electric ute, it would not be my preference, but I would take it and that is something that is already under development,” Mr Romano said in May.
“We’re going to have to find that common denominator that’s going to fit both Australia and global. So there’ll be some compromise – that compromise could be a diesel, could be a hybrid, it could be a plug-in hybrid.
“What I think we need is something that competes against the number one and number two in the market, and they’re dominant players,” he added, referring to the Ranger and HiLux.
“That’s [mid-size, body-on-frame] what sells here, that’s what customers want. I think every major manufacturer has one, and I don’t think you can be a viable brand without one.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the [Kia] Tasman body-on-frame – it’s a great infrastructure to build from. I have concerns with diesel, although I would take a diesel short-term if I know that the evolution was going in a different direction.”
In August, Mr Romano indicated a new ute for Australia wouldn’t be locked in this year, citing a decline in total ute sales which could delay development.
He said there was “wiggle room” in the timeline for the new ute to still arrive in Australia by 2029, as originally planned.
Hyundai is also developing a pickup with General Motors, which is understood to be separate from the ladder-frame Ranger rival it will sell in the US by 2030, and Mr Romano didn’t rule it out for Australia either, but said he’d prefer a ute to come from Korea.
A new Ranger rival for Latin America will be one of the first five models Hyundai and GM will develop together as part of a partnership they established in September 2024, and it’s likely to come with diesel power.
Hyundai’s North American ute is more likely to be powered by petrol, hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrains, which are also likelier candidates for any potential SUV version.
Hyundai already sells a ute in the US (the Tucson-based Santa Cruz ‘lifestyle’ dual-cab that’s built exclusively in left-hand drive), but it’s underpinned by a less robust monocoque platform – like all of the Hyundai/Kia group’s large SUVs including the Santa Fe/Sorento and Palisade/Telluride.
