'Mind blowing' Hyundai ute launch date

Mark your calendars, the Hyundai ute will be ready for launch by the end of 2028.

While it’s still a work-in-progress behind-the-scenes, Hyundai Australia boss Don Romano has vowed that he will reveal full details of the ute before he leaves his current post.

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He was speaking at the launch of the new Palisade SUV, and when pressed further on what that means, Romano made it clear that he wants to be able to reveal full details, including price and specifications, before he ends his working tenure with Hyundai.

“ It means we're going to get together and I'm going to talk to you about it and tell you all just what we just did here,” he explained. “You know, whether it's a month after I leave or it's here when I leave, it's a guarantee - here's the date, here's the vehicle, here's the differentiating features.

“If they produce what we're talking about at this stage and what we're working on, it's gonna be mind blowing, it's gonna be great. And I really mean that, I'm not just blowing smoke.

“I just think when you come out with a ute, you know, you can't come out with the same thing. You've got to look at the best vehicles in the market, the best utes in the market, who are the two biggest players. We all know who they are and that's who you have to position yourself with. But you have to bring in some new technology, because a lot of that technology they're using has been there for a while.”

While Romano has been happy to talk about the ute project since taking over at Hyundai Australia earlier this year, specific details remain under wraps as the company continues to develop the new dual-cab at its Korean headquarters.

However, Romano did reveal some crucial details, specifically that Hyundai will build an Australian-sized dual-cab ute, not a larger American-style pickup, at least for our market, to directly challenge the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

He also confirmed it is very unlikely to share a platform with another ute already on-sale, which would seemingly rule out a Hyundai version of the Kia Tasman or using a Chevrolet Colorado - leveraging the joint-venture between Hyundai and General Motors.

“I don't think we're gonna share a platform,” he said. “I don't believe that's an option. I think it, I have to leave it on the table just in case something goes wrong, but that would not be our main goal. Our main goal is to develop our own Hyundai ute with our own technology that's unique. The size we're looking at would be in the Ranger/HiLux space.”

That doesn’t rule out Hyundai developing its own version of the Tasman ladder frame chassis and installing an unique powertrain to make it a distinctly different model. This seemingly corroborates Korean media reports from 2024 that Hyundai is working on a range-extender hybrid powertrain to deploy in its larger vehicles.

As Romano has made repeatedly clear, he does not believe the brand will be successful simply offering a turbo-diesel ute and wants to make sure Hyundai stands out. BYD has enjoyed early success with the plug-in hybrid Shark 6, which suggests a shift in buyer behaviour in the ute segment - in terms of both accepting new brands and new technology.