The Crater Concept is Hyundai’s full-on exploration of next-generation off-road design language. The South Korean giant covers all automotive bases around the world, but in the US market there’s an additional trim level, XRT, that offers a more rugged and robust package for SUV models like the Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade and Santa Cruz.
Hyundai Crater Concept
The Crater Concept points the way to how the XRT line might express itself in the future, with a more adventurous and capable-looking exterior featuring more wheel travel, tougher suspension and a more faceted, angular form. The design studio calls this exterior treatment ‘Art of Steel’, an appropriate moniker for a company that builds everything from cars to cargo vessels and steelworks.
Hyundai Crater Concept
‘Crater began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer,’ says Hyundai’s Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design SangYup Lee, ‘It is a vision shaped by our unending drive to explore – to inspire our customers to explore deeper and embrace the impact of adventure.’
Hyundai Crater Concept
Such rhetoric is very US coded, with the hope that future XRT models are more trail-ready than the current quartet (which are good for ‘light off-roading only’, according to Hyundai). The concept has relatively compact proportions, with a body raised up on massive 33” off-road tyres.
Skid plates, vegetation protection for the cabin and a roof platform with off-road lights in the signature Hyundai pixel style all add to the utilitarian look. Neat conceptual details like a rearview camera that doubles as a removable flashlight add to the functional approach.
Hyundai Crater Concept interior
Inside, it’s even more stripped down. The car’s roll cage encloses the geometric forms of the seats and doubles up as grab handles. The glowing cylindrical dash element and seat bolsters bring to mind the utility-luxe forms of Virgil Abloh’s work with Maybach, as well the structural simplicity of recent Citroën concepts. The dash includes a removable Bluetooth speaker while components like first aid kits and a fire extinguisher also slot neatly into the cabin.
Finished in Dune Gold Matte – inspired by the Californian coastline – the concept car was created at the Hyundai Design and Technical Center in Irvine.
Hyundai Crater, concept only, more information at HyundaiUSA.com,
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