Hyundai Boulder concept revealed to preview Toyota Prado, HiLux rivals
This is the first Hyundai SUV built on a new ladder-frame platform since the Terracan – and while you can't buy this concept, it will form the basis of future Ford Ranger and potentially Everest competitors.
Hyundai has taken the wraps off a concept that shares its DNA with its upcoming dual-cab ute – and previews the styling of a mooted Toyota Prado competitor.
The Boulder Concept was revealed at the New York motor show overnight as a five-door, ladder-frame, four-wheel-drive SUV with flared wheel arches, mud-terrain tyres and bold styling.
Hyundai has dubbed it a "design study" that "previews the brand’s first fully-boxed body-on-frame architecture, a new platform confirmed to underpin a production midsize pickup to be delivered by 2030".
Australia is yet to be confirmed for the new US Hyundai ute – which indirectly replaces the car-derived Santa Cruz – but it has been identified as one option to get a HiLux rival into local showrooms.
The Korean car giant has previously said there is "potential for [a] body-on-frame SUV variant" of the ute platform, which could draw cues from the Boulder show car.
"We are confident that something like this ultra-capable Hyundai SUV concept could more than fulfill the needs of this exclusive group of adventure seekers," Hyundai global design boss SangYup Lee said in a media release.
Styled in the US, the Boulder Concept wears an aggressive, boxy version of Hyundai's newest 'Art of Steel' design language, with sharp creases, flared wheel arches, and a prominent rear-mounted spare wheel.
MORE: Hyundai ladder-frame ute due ‘before 2030’, could spawn SUV to rival Prado, Everest – confirmed
It sits on 18-inch wheels with 37-inch mud-terrain tyres, and is fitted with front and rear differential locks, a low-range transfer case, hill-descent control, and the Kia Tasman's X-Trek off-road cruise control system.
The rear doors open backwards – a common design trait on concept cars, unlikely to make production – with Land Rover Discovery-style 'safari windows' above the doors to let more light in, and a double side-hinged tailgate that can open in either direction.
Inside, the concept skips big screens for a row of customisable display pods showing key information, and chunky physical controls for off-road functions.
Fold-out tray tables are included, while there is also a "software-driven real-time off-road guidance system".
Hyundai says it is "early days" for the developmnt of the body-on-frame architecture, but it says models on the platform will be designed and built in the US for the US market, and will use Hyundai-produced US steel.
US production complicates the Hyundai ute's chances for Australia, due to the lack of right-hand-drive capability in the brand's US factories, and a less favourable exchange rate than South Korea.
A lack of right-hand drive soured the Santa Cruz for Australia, despite sharing much in common with the right-hand-drive Tucson sold here.
"It's still in a work progress. It's probably more towards another couple of years from now. It's still in consideration, to work in collaboration with the US," Hyundai Australia chief operating officer Gavin Donaldson told media earlier this year.
