Hyundai may soon have a luxury crossover SUV in the works.
The South Korean automaker is looking into developing a model that would challenge the Lexus RX 350 and other vehicles in the luxury segment, Edmunds.com reported.
A premium crossover SUV could be built on the seven-passenger Santa Fe's platform, which would give it front-wheel drive.
"We definitely studied a premium people mover, if you will," said Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski, as quoted by Edmunds. "It is not in the plan and it is not eliminated. It is something under consideration."
Hyundai faces a unique challenge when it comes to creating and marketing a luxury model to compete with the Audi Q5 and Cadillac SRX since it hasn't introduced secondary brands.
"One of our problems is we made a conscious decision on our premium products not to establish a secondary distribution channel," Zuchowski said. "And that decision, and we absolutely think it is the right decision, has some flow-through impact on products."
Putting two models with the same platform next to each other at a dealership could be an issue.
"For us that (premium) vehicle would be on the same lot as the Santa Fe," said Zuchowski, as quoted by Edmunds. "It might be more difficult to try to get the premium you need to justify the price when they are sitting next to each other on the lot."
The CEO didn't specify a possible price point for a future luxury crossover; however, Edmunds noted that the 2014 Santa Fe starts at $30,775 with $875 in shipping fees.
Hyundai plans to refresh its five- and seven-passenger crossovers for the 2016 model year with at least two major launches expected annually during the next three years, according to Automotive News.
The automaker will likely release at least one plug-in hybrid soon, planning an electric version of the Sonata sedan.
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