Rugged new Hyundai Boulder Concept previews Korean Land Rover Defender rival
After years of suggesting that it might be up for fighting with Defenders and Land Cruisers in the serious 4x4 space, it’s now game on at Hyundai
This is the Hyundai Boulder Concept, a new hardcore off-roader that has been revealed at this year’s New York motor show. While this specific car is still a concept, Hyundai says that it does preview a rugged off-road production model that could rival the Land Rover Defender, Toyota Land Cruiser and Ford Bronco by the end of the decade. First, however, Hyundai has already confirmed that it will build a body-on-frame pick-up truck running on the same underpinnings as this funky concept.
This type of hardcore off-roader is new ground for Hyundai’s design team, and you can see that it’s taken lots of liberties from the off-roader’s design playbook. However, it very much has its own spin, thanks to a unique arrangement of glass panels in the roof, clever wraparound glass on the D-pillars and extremely pronounced, but still round, wheel arches.
While we expect a future production version of this SUV to feature large off-road tyres and lots of ground-clearance, the Boulder Concept takes this to an extreme, matching something like an Arctic Trucks Toyota Land Cruiser for outright bush-bashing capability. Its aesthetic, though, should remain the same, “giving American customers more of what they want” according to José Muñoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company.
Hyundai’s also given the interior the full concept car treatment, but we can still see some of the design themes which could make production. With such a high driving position, Hyundai hasn’t needed to put in a traditional dial pack, instead there are four small screens that float above the main dash in the centre. Below sit chunky controls for the off-road settings, such as the locking differentials, four-wheel drive system and low-range modes.
Hyundai has said that these models have been designed in the USA, primarily for the USA market, and that it doesn't automatically discount its application here in Europe. However, the pick-up truck – which will come first – is promised to be in full production at a US-based manufacturing plant by 2030.
While it’s unlikely that a pick-up version would reach Europe, the growing market for more rugged off-roaders – as opposed to road-focused SUVs – could see something like this concept on sale in the UK if it has a compliant powertrain under the bonnet.
This type of hardcore off-road production model would also bode well for Hyundai’s premium arm Genesis, which revealed its own off-roader concept last year in the form of the X Skorpio. With a body-on-frame platform engineering project officially underway, Genesis could actually shock everyone with its own Mercedes G-Class rival.
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