A Hyundai executive in the United States has promised the firm’s long-awaited double-cab bakkie will be “very versatile”, adding it will have the potential to create “a whole new class of buyers”.

Speaking to Automotive News, Michael O’Brien, vice-president of product, corporate and digital planning for the firm’s US division, suggested the as-yet-unrevealed pickup would hit North America in the near future.

“It’ll be a very versatile vehicle that has the promise of creating a whole new class of buyers,” O’Brien told the publication.

He went on to say the new unibody bakkie “would have to be made in North America”.

The automaker first hinted at its plans to build a bakkie with the Santa Cruz concept (powered by a 2,0-litre turbodiesel engine) of 2015. That compact five-door show vehicle, of course, featured a tailgate with a clever sliding function that effectively allowed the load bed to be extended.

Interestingly, in February 2019, the head of the Hyundai Global Design Centre in Namyang said the styling of the so-called “crossover pickup” had been extensively updated.

Earlier reports suggested the production model was scheduled to hit the market at some point in 2020.

Original article from Car