Hyundai is finally going the ute muster. But, unfortuantely, for the South Korean brand's Australian arm it's not the right kind of ute.

According to Reuters the company's US product boss confirmed the long-expected rumour that the 2015 Santa Cruze concept will enter production. The Santa Cruz concept was based on Tucson mid-size SUV, as Hyundai believes a smaller, more urban focused pick-up is what it needed to avoid competing directly with the popular Ford, Chevrolet and Ram full-size offerings.

But Hyundai Australia has ruled out bringing the Santa Cruz down under, with the popularity of utes such as the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara the local division believes it needs a more heavy-duty pick-up to compete.

“Santa Cruz is not on the radar for us,” said Hyundai Australia spokesman, Bill Thomas. “It's unlikely to be built in right-hand drive - it’s North America-focused: a smaller pickup with an extending load bay.”

“The car researched very strongly in the US and no doubt it will sell well there, in a market where customers’ needs for bigger pickups are well serviced by the Big Three.”

But there is still hope for Hyundai Australia that it will be able to add a ute to its showrooms in the near future. Earlier this year Hyundai Australia chief operating officer, Scott Grant, hinted that that a proper HiLux-rivalling 4x4 ute was also under development however details of that vehicle are still mostly unknown.

"It's being planned, it's being prepared," Grant said at the time. "I do know that HMC [Hyundai Motor Company] is taking it very seriously and there's a model code allocated to it and there's some work under way, but what the time frames are as far as I'm aware there's no commitment.”

Hyundai US also confirmed that 2018 will see the introduction of a new generation Santa Fe large SUV and is likely to add a new seven-seat SUV offering to its range.

The move to expand Hyundai’s SUV line-up comes as crucial North American sales have slipped almost 11 per cent for the end of July 2017, with Australian sales following a similar trend, dipping 7.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2016.

Locally the brand will have its new Kona small SUV ready to compete against the like of the Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V by the end of the year in the hopes of catching the attention of buyers who continue to turn away from traditional small cars.

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