The Hyundai Boulder Concept Is a Ford Bronco in All But Name

• What is it: A new body-on-frame concept from Hyundai, the brand's first BOF car.
• Why it matters: Hyundai is intereing a market that's been occupied by Ford, Toyota, Chevy and few others. 
• When will we get it: Expect to see the pickup truck the Boulder concept previews by 2030. 

— New York, New York

The Hyundai Boulder concept is here, and it looks a heck of a lot like a Ford Bronco, doesn't it? It fact, take any boxy off-road-ready body-on-frame SUV that's currently on sale and, well, the Boulder mimics it in some way. But that's the point. Hyundai is firmly throwing itself into the ring of midsize hardcore off-roaders — a segment that is huge in the U.S. 

Hyundai says the Boulder "previews the brand's first fully boxed body-on-frame architecture, a new platform confirmed to underpin a production midsize pickup to be delivered by 2030." The pickup will come first, but there's a pretty high chance the Boulder is eventually realized. With the popularity of cars like the Bronco, Wrangler and Defender not waning years after those cars were launched, it's a safe bet that a boxy SUV from Hyundai would do well. 

There are tons of off-road-ready features here, like what appear to be stainless steel tow hooks, a roof rack that looks ready for a tent, and amber "Raptor lights" in the grille that signify a wide-body vehicle. The tailgate is also hinged on both sides to make getting to your stuff easier, a power drop-down rear window to make loading longer items easier, and suicide doors for the rear. 

Hyundai is keeping other specifics of the Boulder under wraps for now. We don't know what's under the hood, if there's going to be an EV version, or if it will have Hyundai's promised extended-range EV powertrain. It is truly a design study, but after having poked around it a bit in person, we can tell you it has a solid axle at the rear, is wearing massive 37-inch off-road tires, and those fender flares are even bigger in person (even more so than what you get on a Bronco Raptor). 

It's also clearly very far from production-ready. While currently a design study, Hyundai has a pretty solid track record of bringing elements from its concepts to life when it comes time to build the real deal. You can expect the eventual production version to use the brand's new "Art of Steel" design language. 

Regardless of what the concept births, it will be built in the U.S. at their factory in Georgia, and it will use steel from the Hyundai steel factory that's also in the U.S. It's all part of Hyundai's coming $28 billion investment in North America that will result in 36 new or refreshed models by 2030.