2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz Gains XRT Trim, Gains More Standard Features

The 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz continues to be the lone pickup entry in the Koran car giant’s automotive arsenal, but while it will not get a companion to join its pickup truck sales ambitions, Hyundai is making some updates to the truck for 2024, including a trim level swap and more standard equipment. SEL Premium Gets Benched, XRT Trim Takes Its Place In Santa Cruz Family A major change for the Santa Cruz is that the SEL Premium trim (slotted just below the range-topping Limited) is being dropped, and in its place is the latest entry into the growing XRT …

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Road Test Review – 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz – Hyundai’s First Pickup Goes For The Lifestyle Crowd

Hyundai, making pickup trucks? When Hyundai announced that it was making a pickup entry, we were admittedly skeptical, especially considering that the Korean car giant had never made a conventional pickup offering up to this point. Hyundai thinks it’s on to something with the Santa Cruz, and when we had the chance to briefly sample it in Ann Arbor, it certainly made an excellent first impression. But how would it do with more prolonged exposure? We were keen to find out.   Sport Adventure Vehicle Motif Defines Santa Cruz We called out Hyundai back then for asserting that the Santa …

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Road Test Review – 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz – Rewriting What An Adventure Vehicle Is While Doing Truck Stuff

When Hyundai first introduced the 2022 Santa Cruz to us during our brief time with it in Metro Detroit, the Korean car giant made it clear that it shouldn’t be called a truck. Instead, the company likes to call it a “Sport Adventure Vehicle” and claim that it’s the best mixture of two segments, the comfort, and performance of an SUV and the open bed flexibility of a pickup mixed into one interesting canvas. The Santa Cruz is far from the first offering to attempt to straddle the line with the Honda Ridgeline and even axed models like the Subaru …

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2022 Maverick vs 2022 Santa Cruz, The Clouds Of War Hang Over The Mid-Size Truck Segment

The 2022 Ford Maverick certainly made a believer out of many people when it was unveiled earlier today. Boasting several functional-focused features and a rock bottom base price, the hybrid-powered Maverick has a certain degree of potential baked into it. How does the Maverick measure up in a battle of specs against another upcoming model, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz. We busted open the books and took a deep dive into both of them to see which one could have an early advantage in the sales war.   Maverick Is Practical, But Santa Cruz Is Styling Winner As mentioned in …

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2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Fuel Numbers Appear, Poised To Shakeup Mid-Size Pickup Segment

Hyundai certainly turned plenty of heads when it unveiled the 2022 Santa Cruz pickup. The utility-focused Hyundai offered plenty of features for urban adventurers, but we still had questions about its fuel economy. The Korean auto giant has delivered the goods and confirmed that the Santa Cruz would be fighting toe to toe with rivals in this category.   Impressive Fuel Economy For A Non-Hybrid Offering The Santa Cruz is slated to go up against rivals like the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Maverick, Toyota Tacoma, and the Honda Ridgeline, with fuel economy being a key pillar in this segment. While the …

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Hyundai Enters The Pickup Wars With 2022 Santa Cruz, Goes On Sale This Summer

When Hyundai first teased the world in 2015 with the Santa Cruz concept, it was the first indication that Hyundai studied the pickup segment. Back then, the company neither confirmed nor denied that the swanky show truck was entering production. Fast forward to 2021, and Hyundai confirmed that the Santa Cruz is entering production with the first units going on sale this summer.   Santa Cruz Blurs The Segment Just don’t call it a pickup in front of Hyundai reps who prefer you call it a “Sport Adventure Vehicle.” That’s a clever way of ruffling BMW’s feathers, and it also …

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Hyundai Teases Santa Cruz Pickup, New Renders Point To Potent Ridgeline Rival

In 2015, Hyundai revealed that it was considering entering the white-hot war in the pickup segment with the Korean car giant unveiling the Santa Cruz concept, which did a good job shocking the world. Six years later, Hyundai confirms that production of the Santa Cruz is indeed happening, with the company releasing several teaser renderings of the small pickup ahead of its April 15th debut. Here are some key takeaways that you can get from the Santa Cruz.   It’s Targeting The Small Pickup Market Thankfully Hyundai is wisely not punching above its own weight class here, and the new …

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