Luxury brand's secret ute project revealed

Korean premium auto brand Genesis has mocked up a ute, and it’s left the door open for a production version.

Images of the Hyundai luxury brand’s proposed electric ute have been published in the latest Auto&Design magazine, and reshared by Anh Ðinh Hoàng on Instagram, alongside a rakish people mover and a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV.

“An electric pickup truck? Why not?” Hyundai Motor Group’s chief creative officer and chief design officer, Luc Donckerwolke, told the magazine about the concept’s creation.

“Then we discarded it because we had to focus on different projects. Maybe in the future, who knows.”

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The unnamed concept was reportedly conceived with the US market in mind, though in hindsight it may have been for the best that Genesis didn’t go ahead with the project given slumping sales of the Tesla Cybertruck and the axing of the electric Ford F-150 Lightning.

Instead of employing unibody construction like all other Genesis products, the ute concept is reportedly underpinned by a “chassis based on two side members” for greater off-road capability, according to the magazine. That suggests it would have been a body-on-frame vehicle, a first for the brand.

While Genesis has never produced a ute, this concept is recognisable as a product of the brand due to the presence of signature design cues like two-line lighting front and rear (and for the side indicators), plus a crest-shaped grille area.

In this concept, the grille area opens up to reveal a front storage compartment – a rather less practical alternative to the under-storage area found under the conventional bonnet of the F-150 Lightning.

There are flared but smooth fenders, plus a front windscreen that curves to meet a fairly flat roof and an abrupt (and therefore conventionally ute-styled) rear window.

Inside, there’s a rounded, minimalist dash and what appears to be the notable absence of a centre console.

Mr Donckerwolke has previously poured cold water on the idea of a Genesis-branded ute, even after the luxury marque confirmed it would put a model like last year’s X Gran Equator off-road SUV concept into production.

“I’m not sure [a ute] fits the brand,” Mr Donckerwolke told Australian media including CarExpert in November 2025.

“We have a lot of other things to do. And I think basically, we are focusing more on high performance and GT [Grand Touring] models.”

Mr Donckerwolke, who admits to owning and driving a Ford F-150 Raptor personally, said he believes that introducing a utilitarian vehicle right now poses a risk to the brand’s carefully cultivated ‘Athletic Elegance’ image.

“We have to make sure that we are not diluting the brand with something which is more utilitarian,” he said.

However, the design boss stopped short of a definitive “never”, leaving a sliver of hope for those dreaming of a Korean rival to the Ford Ranger Raptor or a luxury tow rig.

“I’m not saying that this will not happen,” Mr Donckerwolke conceded.

“But I’m saying that now, we have so many other priorities… I don’t think that this is the right thing for Genesis [right now].”

These other priorities include a new flagship electric SUV, as well as sports cars.

Within the Hyundai Motor Group, that leaves the Hyundai and Kia brands to field ute offerings.

Hyundai already has the Tucson-based Santa Cruz unibody ute in markets like the US, and will launch a body-on-frame ute there before 2030, plus another one co-developed with General Motors in Latin America. Kia, in contrast, already has a body-on-frame ute in the Tasman.

Only a handful of luxury brands have offered utes in the past.

Cadillac offered the Escalade EXT for a couple of generations, but more recently ruled out any plans to return to the segment; Lincoln offered the F-150-based Blackwood, which was a flop, followed by the somewhat more successful Mark LT; and Mercedes-Benz fielded the Nissan Navara-based X-Class dual-cab, which was axed after less than three years.

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