--- title: "Hyundai Says XRT Is Going to Be a ‘Truly Capable’ Off-Road Performance Label" date: "2025-11-21" modified: "2025-11-21" authors: - name: "Joel Feder" job_title: "Director of Content and Product" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/joel-feder" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/hyundai-says-xrt-is-going-to-be-a-truly-capable-off-road-performance-label" categories: - "Hyundai News" - "News" - "News by Brand" --- # Hyundai Says XRT Is Going to Be a ‘Truly Capable’ Off-Road Performance Label ![Hyundai Crater concept]() Hyundai's seen the success of the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, and Toyota 4Runner and it wants some of that. The South Korean automaker's about to get serious with body-on-frame vehicles and off-road capability. At the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show on Thursday, Olabisi Boyle, who is the senior vice president of product planning and mobility strategy at Hyundai North America, told *The Drive* that the automaker's XRT trim is "not gonna be a trim," and the products coming are going to be "100%" more capable than what's on showroom floors right now. Hyundai's hungry for a slice of the adventure and off-road market segment. "We're bringing that true (off-road) capability and hardware to our vehicles going forward," Boyle said. Today, XRT-badged models are a trim in model lineups. Typically the XRTs add some body cladding, all-terrain tires, recovery hooks on some models, and maybe a thin skid plate or two. Boyle said going forward XRT is "not gonna be a trim. It's gonna be capability." "We are going to be truly capable vehicles, and I won't say how we're going to make that happen." Boyle noted that each iteration of the XRT lineup has expanded on capabilities and features. But a lot of that has been limited by platforms used. "There are different platforms that can be used to make it that tend to perform from a capability standpoint. More robustly than others, and we're considering those." "We actually did already announce the body-and-frame pickup," Boyle noted. "So we have other platforms. You can do more with a body on frame platform than you can do with unibody or monocoque. sometimes they call it in our company. And that is allowing us a lot of opportunities. That's the enabler." Hyundai's not alone. [Honda's coming for Subaru and Jeep's lunch ]()with an off-road pivot that will see more capable TrailSport models seeing the light of day. Meanwhile, the [Nissan Xterra is returning]() and the automaker's even indicating the [Pathfinder will switch back to a body-on-frame chassis](). Reading between the lines, it sure sounds like the body-on-frame Hyundai pickup is aiming to tackle the Jeep Gladiator and the automaker might even spin off a body-on-frame SUV all while we are about to get an XRT sub brand. We'll be watching as this develops. *Got a tip about future product? Send us a note at tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Overseeing what you see, read, touch, hear, and interact with from the vast lakes of Minnesota, Joel Feder shapes how The Drive looks and operates as the head of content and product initiatives. On a daily basis, Joel leads the newsroom and editorial staff playing point on both short-term coverage and long-term strategic plans. His mission is to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media by helping the team execute original reporting, breaking news, and exclusive opportunities. Regarded as an industry insider and recognized by colleagues, fellow journalists, and manufacturers as a point-person and leader in the industry, Joel owns and runs the largest automotive professionals group on Facebook in an effort to serve and help others. Joel serves as a juror for the World Car Awards. In addition, he is the board chair and chair of the governance and nominating committee for Move Forward MN, a local non-profit that helps at-risk youth with barrier-free mental health and housing services. While you’re reading this he’s either on his computer or iPhone chasing the latest news or drafting a story. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() [Bluesky]() [Email]()