Rugged Hyundai Boulder Takes Aim at Bronco, Wrangler

Hyundai’s been toying with the off-road market for several years, but it’s about to get serious, challenging the like of Ford Bronco and Jeep. While officially only a prototype, Headlight.News has learned that the Hyundai Boulder concept SUV that debuted at the New York International Auto Show will make it into production by 2030 –and will be part of a full family of body-on-frame trucks.

Hyundai clearly stole the show. The Korean carmaker dropped a bombshell at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday with the debut of the Hyundai Boulder concept, a rugged, body-on-frame SUV aimed at the likes of the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler.

While officially described by Hyundai as a “concept vehicle,” company officials told Headlight.News that it won’t remain that way for long. Based on an entirely new body-on-frame platform the automaker is developing, it will be part of a “family” of light trucks set to roll out before the end of the decade, said Sang-Yup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center.

That will include an all-new midsize pickup truck, added the automaker’s President and CEO Jose Munoz.

What we know

Hyundai raised far more questions than it was willing to answer during Boulder’s debut. Not surprisingly, it is meant to be the follow-up to the wildly over-the-top Crater concept that Hyundai debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November. Boulder’s design is far closer to production-ready, conceded Lee.

In show car form, the SUV is fitted with massive, 37-inch all-terrain tires. It boasts roughly 9 inches of ground clearance, based on the experience of several off-road journalists. The bumpers and skid plates make it clear Boulder features aggressive approach, breakover and departure angles and the ability to skitter over the sort of trails one would experience in places like Moab and the Rubicon Trail.

Development work is still underway, cautioned Munoz, so some features have yet to be locked down. But the automaker is considering a variety of powertrain options which could include an internal combustion engine, a conventional hybrid or a range-extender package. An all-electric version has not been ruled out, either.

All-American

The new body-on-frame platform is being developed in the U.S., Munoz added. Boulder’s design is also an American project, and the plan is to build it in the States – using steel from the mill the parent Hyundai Motor Group is setting up in Louisiana.

One challenge is finding a place to build the new SUV. Currently, Hyundai’s U.S. assembly operations are going flat out, the automaker setting its fifth consecutive sales record in 2025 and the automaker is going for “6 for 6 in 2026,” boasted U.S. Hyundai brand CEO Randy Parker.

To keep the momentum building, Munoz told Headlight.News, the Group – including Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands – plan to boost U.S. production capacity from 800,000 to 1.2 million this decade. That upgrade will be needed to launch both Boulder and the pickup and, possibly, other body-on-frame models to follow.

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A “highly competitive” market

SUVs today dominate the American market. But there’s been growing demand for vehicles capable of taking on serious off-road challenges. Hyundai, for one, has added several XRT packages while Subaru has been expanding its Wilderness line and even little Mazda has upgraded the capabilities of some of its SUVs.

But Boulder takes things to the next level and the automaker is going to have to get it right, acknowledged Parker. “We know it’s a highly competitive space and we’re not taking it lightly. A vehicle like Boulder would go up against the likes of the Ford Bronco, as well as Jeep’s Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models. Volkswagen Group’s new Scout brand is also taking aim, albeit it with all-electric and range-extended powertrains.

“We know we have to take this seriously,” added design chief Lee.

Kia and Genesis also want in

The Hyundai brand is, of course, part of a bigger family of brands and officials with luxury marque Genesis, as well as mainstream Kia, made it clear they also want a piece of the action. To keep growing, “we need to expand into other segments of the market,” one senior Kia insider said on background.

For his part, Genesis product planning chief Ash Corson said that, “For a luxury customer, (body-on-frame products) make sense.”

Another senior group insider cautioned that it’s far from certain Hyundai will be first to get a vehicle into production based on the new body-on-frame platform. “That’s still being sorted out,” he said on background.