4x4 Crater Concept is ready to go where no Hyundai has gone before
Hyundai unleashes the Crater Concept at 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show
After releasing design sketches of its badass 4x4 concept a few days ago, Hyundai has officially unleashed the Crater Concept at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, and is it a sight to see.
Billed by the Korean automaker as a compact off-road SUV that combines toughness and capability, the Crater Concept was inspired by extreme environments and was made a reality by Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California.
“Crater began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer. It is a vision shaped by our unending drive to explore— to inspire our customers to explore deeper and embrace the impact of adventure,” said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design.
The concept features the Art of Steel design language, which transforms the strength of flexibility of the alloy into a sculpted piece of art that's also functional. With its muscular fenders, tall ride height, huge 33-inch off-road tires, front & rear skid plates, pixel lighting, and brutish demeanor, the Crater Concept looks ready for whatever Mother Nature can throw at it.
Despite its rugged looks, the Crater Concept features a monocoque (AKA unibody) construction, which gives the vehicle its bold silhouette and ability to go anywhere despite not being a body-on-frame vehicle. It also has steep approach & departure angles that help the vehicle explore more without having to deal with precarious terrain.
Other features available include removable side mirror cameras that double as flashlights, a roof platform that can carry plenty of cargo and auxiliary lighting, limb risers that protect the front hood from low-hanging branches, rocker panels that also double as storage, and built-in recovery hooks that double as bottle openers.
Open the doors, and the Crater Concept's cabin welcomes you into a tech-savvy yet rugged interior. With an emphasis on a function-first design that's flexible, the Crater Concept's cabin features technical shapes that are wrapped in soft-touch materials that are also durable.
The result is a comfortable but also rugged interior that comes with a high-brow crash pad, a dynamic heads-up display, a customizable interface that can hold smartphones or other devices, LED ambient lighting, a functional rollcage that also helps in easier ingress/egress, and a squared off steering wheel that has terrain mode buttons for Snow, Sand, Mud, Auto, and XRT.
The Crater Concept's powertrain was not mentioned, but given its ability to take on any terrain, perhaps it's powered by an electrified powertrain that has plenty of torque and horsepower on tap.
There's no word whether Hyundai plans on making a production version of the Crater Concept. But should the automaker make it a reality, it could take on the likes of the Bronco and Wrangler when going off the beaten path.
