Their success in passenger cars has spilled over into the crossover SUV and minivan world—sightings of Kia Sorrentos and Huyndai Sonatas are now commonplace. This got the staff of Truck Trend Magazine to wonder, “Hey, what would it be like if the Korean companies chose to go after the U.S. pickup truck market?”
Truck Trend sent its noted artist, Mark Stehrenberger, to do a little checking up on the pickup-truck product planning of Hyundai and Kia. He sent back illustrations (which can be seen at the link below) and some additional notes on what he saw.
Most likely the crossover or minivan platforms would be ideal ones on which to base a pickup truck. Judging from Stehrenberger’s drawings, it appears that the styling staffs of Hyundai and Kia have been paying a great deal of attention to Honda’s Ridgeline. (And why not? If the “future of pickup trucks,” as the article states, is to be found in the Ridgeline, then the Korean companies have picked a worthy specimen to emulate.)
As they’ve done before, the Korean companies tend to take an existing product segment and offer more product for less money—which they’ve done, to much success. However, we’re wondering if they can shake off the “me-too-ism” of the past and strike off in a new design direction for the pickup segment. Stehrenberger has offered a striking crossover pickup idea from Kia, and a sportier extended-cab version for its Hyundai sibling (pictured).
Our take? Let’s see if they can run with these ideas, and inject some bold new thinking into the pickup truck market. If they couple bold new thinking (and styling) with a lower price, the sales sky could be the limit.
Via: Truck Trend