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Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup ‘will be a lot more distinctive’ than the concept

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More details are trickling out about the production version of the

Hyundai Santa Cruz

, the Korean brand’s first foray into the pickup truck market.

For starters, don’t expect it to look much like the concept version that

bowed in Detroit way back in 2015

.

Motor Trend spoke with SangYup Lee

, head of the

Hyundai

Global Design Center in Korea, who said the design strategy has changed in the intervening years, which saw the ouster of former U.S. CEO Dave Zuchowski amid a sales slide and a focus on other vehicles. Lee says Hyundai no longer feels the need to make every vehicle look similar, and so he wants

new vehicles

to look striking, demanding a second look. The new Santa Cruz, he said, “will be a lot more distinctive” and have “a lot more character.” It’ll still be a

crossover

pickup truck, “but the look of it is a lot more progressive.”

Separately,

Hyundai

may have dropped a hint about its sales and marketing strategy for the new crossover pickup.

CarBuzz

spoke with Hyundai Vice President of Product Mike O’Brien, who cited the example of used

Toyota Tacomas

being snapped up from

dealer

lots because of their pricing. “There’s a lot of customers who wish they can have a

Tacoma

but can’t afford one,” he

told the outlet

.

We already know that Hyundai is

eager to get the Santa Cruz into production

for a

crossover

– and

truck

-mad U.S. market, that it’ll be built on the same platform as the redesigned 2020

Tucson

and that it has evolved from a two-door concept to a five-seat, four-door truck. There will also reportedly be a corresponding

Kia

version later.

Reports vary on whether the truck will launch in 2020 or 2021. If it’s the former, then we’d expect an unveiling sometime this year.

Related Video:

from Autoblog http://bit.ly/2BIvggH