Home » The One Vehicle We Have To See Out Of The Hyundai-GM Alliance

The One Vehicle We Have To See Out Of The Hyundai-GM Alliance

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There’s a new partnership in the automotive world and it’s between two of the largest brands out there: General Motors and Hyundai Motor Group. These two giants have a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) but it’s non-binding. What exactly are these two up to? It sounds like they’re not totally sure.

According to each company, they plan to work on “co-development and production of passenger and commercial vehicles, internal combustion engines and clean-energy, electric and hydrogen technologies.” So if we’re reading this right, two car companies are going to work together to develop and produce cars with every currently known propulsion type.

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That’s a bit broad. For all we know it could mean that the two are working on a Chevrolet version of the N74 that Hyundai recently admitted was headed to low-volume production after denying it for quite some time. Let’s dig into what the CEOs of these brands said, what we think it could mean, and what we’d really love to see them team up to do.

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Everybody loves a good team-up. Deadpool and Wolverine, GoPro and Red Bull, Lamborghini and Silver Cross. Okay, maybe not that last one so much but you get the point. Teaming up can result in awesome things. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra seemed to allude to that in her statement about all this.

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“GM and Hyundai have complementary strengths and talented teams. Our goal is to unlock the scale and creativity of both companies to deliver even more competitive vehicles to customers faster and more efficiently,” she said. Hyundai’s leadership parroted that almost exactly.

“This partnership will enable Hyundai Motor and GM to evaluate opportunities to enhance competitiveness in key markets and vehicle segments, as well as drive cost efficiencies and provide stronger customer value through our combined expertise and innovative technologies,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

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No duh, each brand wants to be more efficient, develop products faster, and benefit one another in the process of benefiting itself. That can be good business but it requires each one to lean on what the other does best. One would expect either brand to give us some idea of what it’s thinking will come out of this deal.

Again, none of this is even binding at this point. The two could bail out at any moment without giving us one hint at what they wanted to do with this partnership. Flatly, the press release from GM just says that the two will now begin to discuss “opportunities and progression towards binding agreements.” That almost feels like going in for a handshake with someone who then doesn’t actually grasp your hand.

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All of that said, what are the strengths of each business? No doubt General Motors plays a huge role in the full-size pickup truck market in the USA. Could Hyundai perhaps want a slice of that pie? It doesn’t necessarily fall in line with anything else that it’s working on.

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At the same time, it might be reasonable that Hyundai wants a bit more sincere off-road capability in its lineup. The Santa Fe gives hardcore Land Rover vibes but it lacks the thing Land Rovers are known for, confidently going over all sorts of terrain (before they have a mechanical).

On the flip side, GM could sincerely want Hyundai to contribute to a next-gen Camaro. After all, the Ioniq 5 N is widely considered one of the best-performance EVs on the market today from a driver engagement standpoint. We think there’s a real winner here for both brands though and it could position each one better off than it is now.

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It could potentially use some of the hydrogen fuel cell tech from the N74 if Chevy wants to go that far (though GM has a partnership with Honda on hydrogen cars already). What if Hyundai becomes a big part of Buick’s turnaround? In terms of overall build quality, Hyundai has really upped its game lately. Branching out from Hyundai specifically, it would be lovely to see a new Regal based on the G80.

Our own Thomas Hundal suggested taking the Trax platform and using it to spruce up the Venue, a car that should probably be named Cubicle. Both have EV experience, but working together could help bring down costs.

The Ultimate Goal: Remake The Luv

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That’s right, what could be better than an all-new Chevy Luv? The original Luv was born out of a partnership with Isuzu and it actually lasted in other parts of the world until 2012! Of course, that vehicle ended up being the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon here in the USA.

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There is still a market for a small, inexpensive, quality pickup truck though. Ford has made that wildly clear with its successful Maverick and here’s the kicker, Hyundai had hoped to prove it with the Santa Cruz but then Ford came along behind it with a similar product for thousands less.

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As a result, there were almost 100,000 Maverick sales last year compared to just over 36,000 Santa Cruz sales. Of course, Chevrolet sold exactly zero small trucks in the USA during 2023.

Teaming up with GM might allow Hyundai to cut costs on a car like the Santa Cruz so that it could compete more directly with the Maverick. At the same time, GM could use the development already completed on the Santa Cruz to save itself millions.

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That’s a win-win for both sides and it appears to have a reasonable business case behind it, too. Competition is good and adding one more small pickup to the mix could spell success for both of these brands (if Hyundai can get the pricing down).

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It’s time for a Hyundai-GM “Summer of LUV.”

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Not The Ford 289
Not The Ford 289
13 days ago

We need to get The Bishop on this one!

James Carson
James Carson
14 days ago

A LUV then a Tardis!

Strangek
Strangek
14 days ago

Seems like GM could just drop a truck body on a Trax platform? They don’t need Hyundai for that.

JDE
JDE
14 days ago

I would personally like to see a Tau 5.0 replacement using the best of the LS stuff and leave the stuff that fails on the table. I still want a G90 with the big v8, but nearly as important would be a GV90 SUV with decent towing and legitimately long term duty cycle from a proper v8.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
14 days ago

Sorry, given current trends it would have to be called HPV. Heavy Poser Vehicle.

WaCkO
WaCkO
14 days ago

Show me on the doll where the EV touched you

KC Murphy
KC Murphy
14 days ago

I insist that instead of Santa Cruz, Hyundai should have named it the Elantruck.

I will continue to die on that hill as many times as it takes.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
14 days ago
Reply to  KC Murphy

What’s wrong with Sonotatruck? Or would that be the full size version?

KC Murphy
KC Murphy
6 days ago

What’s wrong with Sonotatruck? Or would that be the full size version?

It can’t be that. Because so nota truck!

JDE
JDE
14 days ago
Reply to  KC Murphy

I mean I could see a Chevy badged Hybrid version called an El Camino as being a decent Maverick fighter

Myk El
Myk El
14 days ago
Reply to  KC Murphy

Not to be confused with Elontruck, which is awful.

WR250R
WR250R
14 days ago

Hmm get rid of the rear doors and bench to make a ‘regular cab’ Santa Cruz could give a bed length of six and a half, maybe seven feet.. Would only sell in small numbers but picture it!

Datanerd
Datanerd
14 days ago
Reply to  WR250R

Get rid of the rear doors, and put two seats in the bed. By next year it will be ready for BRAT summer.

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
14 days ago
Reply to  Datanerd

So what you’re saying is “Make LUV, end up with a BRAT?”

WaCkO
WaCkO
14 days ago
Reply to  Thomas Metcalf

Wait isn’t that what normally happens after « making love »

No More Crossovers
No More Crossovers
14 days ago

Taking bets on the odds that someone at GM felt they had a legacy of rebadging that’s started to slip and they needed to fix it

MiniDave
MiniDave
14 days ago

The pic of the execs standing in a row is interesting, with the body language mimicked by each pair – the guys on the ends with the hands in the pockets and so on…..

If you’re gonna build a new LUV, please, please can we get a 2 dr version?

Last edited 14 days ago by MiniDave
John Beef
John Beef
14 days ago
Reply to  MiniDave

Interesting, the guy second from the right ruined the symmetry. He needs to have his left hand over his right hand in front of him, and then each side would be a mirror image.

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
14 days ago
Reply to  John Beef

I wish you hadn’t mentioned that. I hate when symmetry is ruined.

Steve P
Steve P
14 days ago

But what about Daewoo? /s

Jatkat
Jatkat
14 days ago
Reply to  Steve P

A good portion of GM’s lineup is currently Daewoo. SORRY “GM Korea”. The Trax, Envista, Encore, and Trailblazer are all GM Korea rigs. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the Trax and Envista have received pretty rave reviews, the Encore GX and Trailblazer have also received pretty warm reception. They are a good value, and seem like pretty solid little rigs. On the other hand, I’ve driven an Aveo. Fuck that.

Steve P
Steve P
14 days ago
Reply to  Jatkat

Just imagine if the license hadn’t been lost during the Daewoo bankruptcy and GM Korea could still be cranking out…the Honker!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpan_Honker

Last edited 14 days ago by Steve P
Baja_Engineer
Baja_Engineer
14 days ago

Sorry to be that guy, but GM already sells the Montana compact unibody pickup in Latin America. If GM wanted to, they could setup Montana production in any of the USMCA countries to avoid chicken tax, but alas they have been unwilling to.

The Santa Cruz is a good platform to start with but Hyundai doesn’t have the capacity to build any more of those, let alone a GM twin or a truck based from it.

Bottom line, GM needs to setup an assembly line, the question is which one of the two options is more convenient? Montana will easily win on price but the Santa Cruz is 10″ longer, 4″ wider and comes with a longer 118″ WB (Montana is 110″).

MrLM002
MrLM002
14 days ago
Reply to  Baja_Engineer

That probably has more to do with the footprint rule than anything else. Due to the footprint rule the Montana would need to get a minimum of 44MPG to meet regs, for every MPG under they pay over $1000 in fines per Montana for the US market.

The slightly good news is that efficiency of BEVs are so good that the MPGe necessary to meet the footprint rule standards is so low that there’s really no reason why we can’t have small BEV pickups, automakers just haven’t made them yet.

Slack00
Slack00
13 days ago
Reply to  Baja_Engineer

I highly doubt the Montana meets US crash standards…you’d probably have to redesign the whole vehicle, anyway.

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