The One Vehicle We Have To See Out Of The Hyundai-GM Alliance

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.”