There’s a new partnership in the automotive world and it’s between two of the largest brands out there: General Motors and Hyundai Motor Group. These two giants have a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) but it’s non-binding. What exactly are these two up to? It sounds like they’re not totally sure.
According to each company, they plan to work on “co-development and production of passenger and commercial vehicles, internal combustion engines and clean-energy, electric and hydrogen technologies.” So if we’re reading this right, two car companies are going to work together to develop and produce cars with every currently known propulsion type.
That’s a bit broad. For all we know it could mean that the two are working on a Chevrolet version of the N74 that Hyundai recently admitted was headed to low-volume production after denying it for quite some time. Let’s dig into what the CEOs of these brands said, what we think it could mean, and what we’d really love to see them team up to do.
Everybody loves a good team-up. Deadpool and Wolverine, GoPro and Red Bull, Lamborghini and Silver Cross. Okay, maybe not that last one so much but you get the point. Teaming up can result in awesome things. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra seemed to allude to that in her statement about all this.
“GM and Hyundai have complementary strengths and talented teams. Our goal is to unlock the scale and creativity of both companies to deliver even more competitive vehicles to customers faster and more efficiently,” she said. Hyundai’s leadership parroted that almost exactly.
“This partnership will enable Hyundai Motor and GM to evaluate opportunities to enhance competitiveness in key markets and vehicle segments, as well as drive cost efficiencies and provide stronger customer value through our combined expertise and innovative technologies,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.
No duh, each brand wants to be more efficient, develop products faster, and benefit one another in the process of benefiting itself. That can be good business but it requires each one to lean on what the other does best. One would expect either brand to give us some idea of what it’s thinking will come out of this deal.
Again, none of this is even binding at this point. The two could bail out at any moment without giving us one hint at what they wanted to do with this partnership. Flatly, the press release from GM just says that the two will now begin to discuss “opportunities and progression towards binding agreements.” That almost feels like going in for a handshake with someone who then doesn’t actually grasp your hand.
All of that said, what are the strengths of each business? No doubt General Motors plays a huge role in the full-size pickup truck market in the USA. Could Hyundai perhaps want a slice of that pie? It doesn’t necessarily fall in line with anything else that it’s working on.
At the same time, it might be reasonable that Hyundai wants a bit more sincere off-road capability in its lineup. The Santa Fe gives hardcore Land Rover vibes but it lacks the thing Land Rovers are known for, confidently going over all sorts of terrain (before they have a mechanical).
On the flip side, GM could sincerely want Hyundai to contribute to a next-gen Camaro. After all, the Ioniq 5 N is widely considered one of the best-performance EVs on the market today from a driver engagement standpoint. We think there’s a real winner here for both brands though and it could position each one better off than it is now.
It could potentially use some of the hydrogen fuel cell tech from the N74 if Chevy wants to go that far (though GM has a partnership with Honda on hydrogen cars already). What if Hyundai becomes a big part of Buick’s turnaround? In terms of overall build quality, Hyundai has really upped its game lately. Branching out from Hyundai specifically, it would be lovely to see a new Regal based on the G80.
Our own Thomas Hundal suggested taking the Trax platform and using it to spruce up the Venue, a car that should probably be named Cubicle. Both have EV experience, but working together could help bring down costs.
The Ultimate Goal: Remake The Luv
That’s right, what could be better than an all-new Chevy Luv? The original Luv was born out of a partnership with Isuzu and it actually lasted in other parts of the world until 2012! Of course, that vehicle ended up being the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon here in the USA.
There is still a market for a small, inexpensive, quality pickup truck though. Ford has made that wildly clear with its successful Maverick and here’s the kicker, Hyundai had hoped to prove it with the Santa Cruz but then Ford came along behind it with a similar product for thousands less.
As a result, there were almost 100,000 Maverick sales last year compared to just over 36,000 Santa Cruz sales. Of course, Chevrolet sold exactly zero small trucks in the USA during 2023.
Teaming up with GM might allow Hyundai to cut costs on a car like the Santa Cruz so that it could compete more directly with the Maverick. At the same time, GM could use the development already completed on the Santa Cruz to save itself millions.
That’s a win-win for both sides and it appears to have a reasonable business case behind it, too. Competition is good and adding one more small pickup to the mix could spell success for both of these brands (if Hyundai can get the pricing down).
It’s time for a Hyundai-GM “Summer of LUV.”
GM already has the Montana, so I don’t know what good a GM version of a Santa Fe is to them, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Montana
Footprint rule. See my above reply.
Calling it a LUV would make sense, so of course GM will call it the Corsica.
Oh if they electrified it they could call it the LUV-E!
It would offset some of the environmental impact of all their Thurston ICE trucks
I’ve been looking for the right LUV for years. My grandfather had a brown 77 Luv, and it was what I learned how to drive a manual on. It had the most unforviing clutch I’ve ever used. I used to hate how difficult it was to keep from killing the engine with it, but after a while I really loved learning the intricacies of it, and felt a massive sense of accomplishment at having mastered it. It made every manual car I drove after that a breeze to drive, and it’s probably why he had me learn on it. I’ve wanted to find a nice rust free one, get it running and name it after him. I’ve always thought of the Luv as the perfect embodiment of my gradfather; small but capable, a little difficult for some but amazingly wonderful to have around.
I LUV to say that I LUV the Chevy LUV!
As long as gm doesn’t start putting their indicators at the bumper level, we should be good.
Paging Bishop….Bishop please pick up line one…
Yup, I wanna see the Bishop take. Then again, he prefers that 80s feel
The Maverick/Santa Cruz is apples and oranges since the SC has no hybrid trim. They aren’t the same.
I would argue they are Honeycrisp and Granny Smith, since they’re both small trucks
Fine. The 92% of Mavericks, which are not hybrid, are apples and apples with the Santa Cruz.
The hybrid trim doesn’t matter that much IMO if they’ve only sold 11 of them
That press release sounds like someone said recently: I have concepts of a plan
Very generic. GM partnered with Honda, now Hyundai. GM knows how to make good cars for America, Hyundai/Kia small cars and EVs around the globe. Maybe the next generation Ultium platform will be with Hyundai components? Sharing battery configurations?
We will see… as long the quality goes up and prices down, its a win win.
“No doubt General Motors plays a huge role in the full-size pickup truck market in the USA. Could Hyundai perhaps want a slice of that pie? It doesn’t necessarily fall in line with anything else that it’s working on”
Based on the picture I think the answer is clear: pedestrian crushing technology. Hyundai has designs on their neighbor to the north and needs terrifying tactical vehicles that can both carry and crush troops. Nobody makes pedestrian crushers quite like GM.
Mustang would like a word.
Okay, that made me snarf water through my nose.
A house in the neighborhood has a sweet normal-size red pickup parked out front that is from before the pandemic of elephantitis of the trucks. I think it’s a Ram but not sure as I’m not really a truck person. It says 4×4 on the side but I haven’t had a chance to get a good look at any other labels on it.
I owned a previous gen Ram with the quad cab (the smaller rear doors) and it was still huge at 230″ long and 140″ wheelbase.
Maybe it was a Dakota? 4×4 side decals were quite common on those (unlike Rams which most of them have 4×4 badges in the tailgate)
I’m old enough to have experienced the LUVs and they were fantastic for what they were. High school baseball coach had a couple over the years, and what I’ll always remember about them is how those exterior tie-down cleats really upped the “utility” in these things.
They made it really easy to secure less-than-full loads, which comes in handy way more than advertisements would show us.
I’m assuming any contemporary version couldn’t have them, but perhaps on the inside of the bed at least?
They now have sliding tie down racks near the top of the bed on the inside that offer the same capability.
Ok Bishop, Time to show us what a Santa Cruz Chevy LUV would look like.
Is GM overall bigger than Hyundai overall (shipbuilding, cars, appliances, etc…)? GM is not the global manufacturing behemoth it was in the ’50s and ’60s. Really, it is a shell of its former self limited ONLY to US carmaking. I think they have more to gain from this alliance than Hyundai. I’m thinking it is more Hyundai hedging bets against a protectionist administration.
The conglomeration era was such a weird time for brands appearing on incongruous products.
pretty much this. H/K only has 2 factories in the US running at full capacity, while I guess GM has excess of capacity in at least a couple ones.
“This partnership will enable Hyundai Motor and GM to evaluate opportunities to enhance competitiveness in key markets and vehicle segments, as well as drive cost efficiencies.
*With apologies to the Musical Annie Get Your Gun
Hyundai (Sings in Korean)
Any part you can make, I can make cheaper, I can make any part cheaper than you!
GM (Sings in Chinese):
No you can’t!
Hyundai:
Yes I can!
GM:
No you can’t, can’t, can’t!
This is truly terrible, I luv it!
Is GM hoping for EV tech? As for truck cred, Kia Military has the trucks I want.
I actually kind of dig the looks of the refreshed Santa Cruz. They leaned into the “sport truck” look and I think it works.
They’re going to jointly figure out to make ICE engines that grenade themselves right after the powertrain warranty ends, but even moreso than they do now. The failures will also be so catastrophic that the vehicle needs to be replaced, not just the pesky engine, driving more sales to folks who inexplicably keep buying their wares.
GM will use Hyundai’s expertise with vehicle fires to make their EVs even more prone to catching fire.
All this in an effort to sell more ugly trucks.
It would appear from the visual evidence that Hyundai’s strength is “suits that fit them” and GM’s is “more than one color of tie.” Also, why can’t these rich dudes have their trousers hemmed? Or is the quintuple break what we’re doing now? Maybe they forwent tailoring so Mary Barra’s pants could stay unscathed in the flood?
Thanks, the photo was bothering me but I could not figure it out.
OMG. I buy suit separates on sale but am a (still) slender enough common size. You can get pants hemmed for like 15 bucks! I’d be embarrassed at our year end company dinner, let alone a public photoshoot.
Heck, I’ve emergency hemmed pants with some quick stitches.
This is why Hyundai didn’t partner with Ford.
Because Ford thinks that off-the-rack suits from Men’s Warehouse = Bespoke.
Maybe Hyundai wants to get out of the engine business and will just use GM’s for the ICE vehicles? Hyundai doesn’t have a good track record for engines right now.
GM engines aren’t doing so hot either. The reliability of the current V8s has TANKED.
Hyundai doesn’t have a good track record for engines in North America, but does have a good track record for engines in Europe.
While I’m not sure what Hyundai gets out of the arrangement, I feel like GM wants to tap their EV tech. The Ultium platform is pretty lackluster, and Hyundai seems determined to just be an EV tour-de-force. Which is a refreshing change from ICE engines that blow up if you look at them wrong.
Perhaps some ICE engines that don’t do that are what Hyundai gets out of the deal.
G90 with an LT4 is the mashup we all need.
How GM hasn’t made a Maverick competitor with a mid-gate is mind blowing.
I came to post this. Ford made the Maverick by chopping the back roof off of the Escape and making it look more truck-ish. GM can’t do that with one of their 50 small crossover models? The Maverick is largely selling to people who otherwise would not have bought a pickup, so it’s not like GM has to worry about their money-printing BOF larger trucks losing sales to internal competition.
Hyundai is getting so big… I wonder if this is just a trojan horse sort of move with the end goal of them buying GM outright. Which, IMO, might be the smartest business move ever.
I don’t follow this logic at all. If they wanted to buy out GM (GM is bigger than Hyundai, but we’ll ignore that) they don’t need a trojan horse to do it. Second, how the heck is this even a trojan horse? It’s a non-binding agreement, and a pretty damn tame one at that. Things like this happen all the time and GM’s been in several of them in the past (heck, binding ones too) and nothing even close to what you guess has happened.
FYI: Hyundai has outsold GM for a little while, now, on volume.
But, otherwise, you’re right that they’ve done similar with brands like Toyota (Matrix/Vibe, Chevy/Toyota Cavalier, etc…) to fill a few holes in their lineup. This might be an opportunity for GM to have a car again in their lineup without feeling like they need to make a heavy investment – and for Hyundai to boost their volumes/efficiencies without much effort beyond swapping badges.
Bought my daughter a used Vibe knowing it is a purebred Toyota without the “Toyota Tax”.
I bought a Yaris knowing it was a mazda, and since it was just before covid, and a manual, somehow dodged the toyota tax… at a toyota dealer.
Is GM overall bigger than Hyundai overall (shipbuilding, cars, appliances, etc…)? GM is not the global manufacturing behemoth it was in the ’50s and ’60s. Really, it is a shell of its former self limited ONLY to US carmaking. I think they have more to gain from this alliance than Hyundai. I’m thinking it is more Hyundai hedging bets against a protectionist administration.
Hyundai Group spun off lots of divisions in the late ’90s. This agreement is with Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai, Kia, Genesis), not with Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (shipbuilding, heavy equipment, machinery…), or Hyundai Department Store Group, or Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, or Hyundai Development Co. Group. Those are all stand-alone companies after the Hyundai Group split; like I said before, this agreement is only with Hyundai Motor Group.
So you can only really compare GM directly with Hyundai Motor Group, which GM is larger (by market cap and most other metrics on how you would compare “sizes” of companies).
Hmm. What if GM teamed up instead with Tesla to produce a small pickup? They could call it Muskrat LUV.
They will come out with something lame. Like another ” compact” truck that has a 3 foot bed.
I’d consider buying one of those and timing might be right if they put it out 4-5 years from now.
They could call it the “Sluff” (small avalanche) lol
Hopefully it will be 3ft I was worried it would be even smaller. I am worried that 1/2 ton trucks will soon have 2.5 ft beds.