Santa Cruz, a pickup truck released by Hyundai Motor Co. in 2021 as a strategic model for the North American market, outsold Ford Motor Co.’s Ranger in the United States last year, data showed Monday.

According to data from Hyundai Motor and U.S. auto sales data provider Good Car Bad Car, a total of 36,675 units of Santa Cruz were sold in the U.S. last year, ranking as the 12th best-selling pickup truck in the country.

Sales of the Ford Ranger, an iconic mid-size pickup truck in the U.S. since its release in 1983, stood at 32,334 units.

Santa Cruz was released in the U.S. in 2021. In the first year, sales of the pickup truck came to 10,042 units and 36,480 units in 2022, leading to a cumulative sales of 83,197 units.

Santa Cruz, which is produced at Hyundai Motor’s Alabama factory, is expected to gain even more popularity going forward, given its face-lift release this year.

Hyundai Motor is now shifting its focus to another niche market in Australia, where demand for pickup trucks has been growing. Its smaller sibling Kia Corp. has registered the brand of Tasman, a pickup truck based on its mid-size SUV Mohave, last year.

In a separate development, HD Hyundai Electric Co., an affiliate of HD Hyundai Group that specializes in power equipment and energy solutions, is embarking on constructing a new factory for low-to-medium voltage circuit breakers in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

With an investment totaling 117.3 billion won ($87.7 million), the company plans to establish a cutting-edge manufacturing facility for low- and medium-voltage breakers spanning 85,420 square meters in the Cheongju Central Valley, an industrial complex in the city.

The facility is set to be fully built by October 2025.

By Park Je-wan, Choi Hyun-jae, and Han Yubin

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