A completely unsubstantiated says Hyundai is bringing to the Detroit Auto Show next month. A baseless claim, but it got me thinking– if Hyundai undercut the hell out of the truck market and gave the US a barely-legal lightweight alternative, we might effectively have the "old Ranger" back.

Hyundai would be insane to go up against Ford, GM, and Ram in the . With the new Colorado kicking ass and a redone Toyota Tacoma right around the corner, they'd be hard-up against overwhelming enemies in the mid-sized class too.

Drive free or die.

But the Korean carmaker could get an edge the way they always have; offer a "close enough" package to the other guys for a whole lot less money.

If they could put together a super-simple pickup with great MPG and remotely reasonable payload capacity, and offer it for significantly less than the other guys with that solid warranty of theirs, I think business customers would be more than happy to forgo GM, Toyota, or Nissan build quality for an inexpensive alternative.

Hyundai already sells pickups in other markets; Their H100/"Porter" chassis-cab vans are something like moderns VW Transporter... and pretty awesome. The precludes them from importing these, but it wouldn't be impossible to start building something similar stateside.

Quick, what do potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and a smallish pickup truck have in common? The…

I called Hyundai and asked about this of course. Their PR man Derek Joyce recited the familiar "can't comment on future product, but we'll have some surprises!"

I would be shocked if Hyundai trotted out a truck at this year's show. There have been no indications anything like that would happen. But, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on whether or not it's an idea they should explore.

Image by the author. I know, it's pretty great.