Battery-pure pickup among vehicles set to go onto a new platform.

LONG-expressed New Zealand distributor hope for a Hyundai utility vehicle has been answered by the parent, with an electric twist, but today the local branch had nothing to say.

Hyundai New Zealand top man has demurred from thought about Seoul headquarter’s confirmation that a “pick up” is among future vehicles arriving on a new electric platform, announced on Tuesday.

The underpinning is two years away and appears to intend to deliver a vehicle somewhat more substantial than any one-tonne ute here, or the only tray deck Hyundai builds at the moment, the North America-specific and fossil-fuelled Santa Cruz.

Hyundai has indicated their battery-reliant vehicle will set out to rival full-sized American efforts the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rival R1T.

The model’s existence was confirmed at an investor conference in South Korea’s capital, where Hyundai Motor Company chief executive Jaehoon Chang (above) confirmed the new modular EV platform.

That new platform—known as Integrated Modular Architecture—will replace Hyundai's existing E-GMP platform that its current crop of EVs are utilising and make its way to 13 new models across the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands. 

Hyundai Motors New Zealand has for years made plain their hope that a ute would come.

The one-tonne category is the only new vehicle segment in which it is absent and, despite Clean Car adding penalties across all the dominant diesel models, it remains highly lucrative. 

The top-selling Ranger is Ford’s strongest performing model and often heads monthly new passenger and commercial registrations counts.

HNZ chief executive Andy Sinclair, who in the past has spoken most about the desire for a competing product, was approached for comment about the EV ute today and how it might potentially conform to national taste.

He declined the opportunity, emailing: “I actually can’t comment on that.”

Hyundai says one the key goals for the IMA platform is to standardise more components to cut down on production costs and ideally make room for cheaper electric vehicles. 

It said the underpinning was created to “encompass nearly all vehicle classes, ranging from small and large SUVs to pick up trucks, along with the flagship models of the Genesis brand.”

The Santa Cruz, pictured above, is a development of the Tucson sports utility sold here, but purely with a petrol engine. It is emphatically a light duty model, designed for weekend play rather than the rigours of weekday toil.

However at one point it seemed possible its catalyst, a same-named and brawnier-looking concept, might provide a more global opportunity. 

The period when that seemed a potential was when Sinclair made past comments.

Overseas’ reports since the conference note that Hyundai has been laying hints that electric pickups are on the way, although models haven't been formally announced nor formally earmarked for any particular market. 

Going big makes sense because North America is the largest market for pickup trucks.

Muddying waters in respect to a load-all of this nature is news out of Australia in May, which suggested Kia was looking into delivering a body-on-frame ute with both petrol and electric powertrains.

Some commentators say it is still plausible that vehicle might come out, and be specific to Asia and Oceania.

On the other hand, the Kia and Hyundai vehicle-making operations are ultimately guided by the whims of their overall parent, HMC.

Major one-tonne sector performers Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi, have all indicated potential their respective Ranger, Hilux and Triton products might one day take battery-fed drivetrains, though the talk hints more at these being electrified - so, either mid or plug-in hybrid - rather than fully divorced from combustion engines.

The new Triton unveiling on July 26 is tipped to go hybrid, but not immediately - some say this won’t happen until a year after it’s on sale here, which likely means 2025 availability. That’s been signalled as the year when Toyota and Ford might also have something similar.