Hyundai decided to do things the old-fashioned way at this year’s New York International Auto Show. It’s become the industry norm to provide journalists advanced embargo news releases allowing them to prep stories ahead of time. But Hyundai left everyone guessing until it lifted the covers at its Wednesday morning press conference at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. And that led to a collective gasp as we scribes got a first look at the Hyundai Boulder concept vehicle. Think of it as a slightly less radical take on a midsize off-road SUV than the Crater concept Hyundai unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November. Where Crater was a fantasy in chrome, Boulder is just a few wiggles of a designer’s pen short of the real off-roader Hyundai plans to launch before the end of the decade, the automaker’s President and CEO Jose Munoz told Autoblog after the reveal. More significantly, it will be one of a number of products the Korean carmaker plans to build off a new, body-on-frame platform it’s developing – a list that Munoz said will include a midsize pickup. What’s NewHyundai has come a long way since it entered the U.S. market 40 years ago. It’s now the world’s third-largest automaker and is growing rapidly in the American market where it’s aiming to score its sixth consecutive year of record sales in 2026. But it’s far from sanguine, Munoz outlining big growth plans set to see the Hyundai and high-line Genesis brands roll out 58 new or significantly updated products worldwide by 2030. That will see it enter a number of new segments, notably with products based on the new body-on-frame platform, the first for the Korean automaker. Munoz stressed that these heavy-duty models will be designed in the U.S. and assembled here using steel from the new mill the group is setting up in Louisiana. Only a few details about Boulder were revealed during the NY news conference. Among other things, it rides on 37-inch wheels and has substantial ground clearance. Though Hyundai officials didn’t talk about competitors during the event, officials who spoke to Autoblog suggested the production SUV will go up against products like the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models. “Highly Competitive”“We know it’s a highly competitive space and we’re not taking it lightly,” said Randy Parker, CEO of the Hyundai brand in the U.S. While Boulder is now confirmed as an upcoming addition to the brand’s line-up, Parker said the addition of the underlying body-on-frame platform “opens doors to many (other) possibilities.”Achieving that level of capabilities, stressed Parker, requires going with a body-on-frame approach. The challenge has been to minimize the downsides, such as weight and mass – and the penalties on fuel economy, There are a number of engineering – and marketing – issues to address before a production Boulder reaches showrooms. Among other things, confided Munoz, that includes powertrain options. “We’re very flexible,” he said in an interview. “It’s a cornerstone of our strategy.” The final product is highly likely to offer multiple options, drawing from Hyundai’s deep shelf. That includes internal combustion, conventional or plug-in hybrid, all-electric and new range-extending technologies. More to ComeHow many products will be based off the new platform beyond Boulder? “More to come,” hinted Sang-Yup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center. “It’s not difficult to think of a family of body-on-frame vehicles. And that family would extend beyond the Hyundai brand, senior company insiders made clear, several asking to remain on background, not having official permission to discuss future product plans.There’s an internal push-and-shove between the brands, apparently, to see who actually will get the new platform first. Kia actually would like to go first, one executive said, noting it actually had plenty of experience with body-on-frame designs before its bigger sibling acquired control of the brand in 1998. For his part, Genesis product planning chief Ash Corson wouldn’t wade into that debate. But he did say that “For a luxury customer, (body-on-frame products) make sense.”The reality is we’re likely to see the new platform show up underpinning a variety of new models from the broader Hyundai Motor Group by decade’s end. The Hyundai Boulder will be just one of them.
