Don' t Rule Out Kia Building A Small Pickup Truck CarBuzz News Features New Cars Used Cars Sell My Car Shopping Tools Car Reviews Car Finder Compare Cars Best Cars Car Dealerships Used Car Reviews Car Advice Home News Don' t Rule Out Kia Building A Small Pickup Truck
Don' t Rule Out Kia Building A Small Pickup Truck
Apr. 28, 2019 9:21 AM ET by Jared Rosenholtz / 8 Comments Who will be the first to market with a small pickup? As of 2019, the smallest pickup trucks you can buy in the United States aren't really that small. The mid-size truck segment includes the likes of the Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon, Honda Ridgeline, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, and Toyota Tacoma, all of which are larger than full-size pickup trucks from the 1990s. Since there aren't any automakers building a truly small pickup, a few companies are starting to contemplate entering the segment. Hyundai is one of the most intriguing candidates to build a small truck having openly talked about building a production version of the Santa Cruz Concept. When we spoke to Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's VP of Corporate Communications, at the 2019 New York Auto Show, we were told there would be some news on the small pickup sometime soon. But what about Hyundai's corporate sibling Kia? Kia Kia Kia hasn't been quite as gung-ho about building a pickup truck but the company hasn't ruled it out either. Speaking with MotorTrend in New York, Michael Cole, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Kia Motors America said "We think that there's enough opportunity," but admitted, "it's a long way down the road." So although Hyundai seems close to revealing a new truck, Kia's version isn't coming any time soon. Kia Cole says Kia has other priorities before building a truck. "We look at our core segments right now and we want to become a stronger SUV brand. We want to reaffirm our strength in the sedan lineup and there are things that we still think we can do in those areas that offer us the best opportunity. Down the line, if we can tick all those boxes and say we've got this sorted and thinking about the electrification, and all of these other issues, could some sort of pickup be part of the future Kia lineup? It could be, but it's not in our thinking right now. We're focusing on what we believe to be the core territory for us: SUVs and cars," Cole said. Hyundai Hyundai Join The Discussion
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Kia Sportage Jared Rosenholtz Editor-at-Large After graduating with an MBA, Jared pursued his love of cars by becoming an automotive journalist. An internship with CarBuzz grew into his current position as Editor At Large. Jared now spends most of his time evaluating new vehicles and chasing the latest news stories in the automotive industry. When he’s not attending Cars & Coffee events on the weekend, Jared loves to watch NFL football and cruise around with the top down in his German convertible. Contact Jared @Carsnbites @jar_rosenholtz LoginSign Up Home News Features Car Reviews Car Advice 2021 CarBuzz Awards New Cars Used Cars Future Cars Compare Cars Sell My Car Car Dealerships Buy Here Pay Here Used Car Reviews Popular Tags Cars # Video # TOP # Spy Shots # Reveal # Rumor # Auto Show # Supercar # Tuning # Car Culture # Industry News # Motorsport Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Make Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Car Type SUVs Crossovers Sedans Coupes Trucks Sports Cars Wagons Vans Hatchbacks Convertibles Small Cars Luxury Cars Electric Cars Hybrid Cars Future Cars By Price Up to $15K $15K - $25K $25K - $35K $35K - $45K $45K - $55K $55K - $75K $75K - $100K $100K - $200K $200K - $300K Above $300K Back To Top