2023 Kia ute: Hyundai Santa Cruz cousin imagined

The compact pick-up truck segment has returned to the United States with flying colours.

While passenger car-based utility vehicles may have been the staple of the local motoring landscape, with the final Holden Commodore Ute rolling off the production line just under four years ago, the segment has been largely dead in the truck-mad United States market for many years.

That was until it made a lifestyle-focused comeback with two vehicles earlier this year, the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. Will Kia – Hyundai’s corporate cousin – be the latest manufacturer to join the growing sector?

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Kia ute imagined

Expected to join the Kia America line-up in coming years, the small ute is likely to be based on the same platform as the Santa Cruz, itself sharing ‘N3’ underpinnings with the new-generation Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

Independent designer Theottle has brought this speculation to life, showing an imaginary Kia ute based on the Santa Cruz, with front and rear elements taken from the Sportage.

As such, the front of the ute is largely identical to the Sportage, flanked by a large grille and boomerang-shaped LED daytime running lamps. It is the same story for the rear-end, with tail-lights stolen from the medium SUV.

In an additional set of renderings, the designer has also grafted the styling of the Sorento large SUV onto the Santa Cruz body, depicting a less-adventurous representation of the Kia ute over the Sportage-inspired design shown above.

With no plans for right-hand drive production of the Hyundai Santa Cruz, it is likely any Kia ute specifically designed for the North American market would similarly be off the table for an Australian launch.

Speaking with media at the launch of the Seltos small SUV in mid-2019, Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith said: “There is conversation [for a ladder-frame ute] so it’s still very much a long way away, but we’re confident in the near future the group will have a light commercial range in Australia.

“I think 2022-23 would be pretty close,” he added, referring to a local on-sale date.

It is not known whether these plans have come any closer to fruition, with the COVID-19 pandemic and an exuberant shift to electric vehicle development within the Hyundai-Kia Group likely putting a dent in these plans.

Despite this, the Australian market is still likely to be treated to a dual-cab petrol or diesel-powered Kia light commercial range in the coming years, as the company seeks to expand its local footprint – with the brand looking to step on the heels of Mazda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Ford in the top 10 sales race.

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2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz