A few years ago, Hyundai made waves with the debut of its car/truck, the Santa Cruz. It arrived with a natural rival, the Ford Maverick compact pickup. Fast forward to now, the Santa Cruz is on its way out — and that’s a damned shame.
The 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz XRT AWD is a reminder of why the do-it-all ute was created: flexibility and capability.
There’s a need for a compact, do-it-all kind of vehicle with a strong powertrain that’s easy to drive and loaded with technological goodies. And despite all that, no one seems to want to pony up the $35K or more needed to buy one. Santa Cruz sales were down 20% in 2025, and another 30% through the first four months of April.
Why is it falling short of expectation? Well, it’s more expensive than the Maverick for what you get and there’s a reason why the Chevy El Camino and Ford Ranchero disappeared … the do-it-all nature confuses people and, perhaps more importantly, it may do it all, but perhaps not well. This is the case for our much-loved, but not-bought-enough Santa Cruz.
Unique on the outside
Say what you will, from the front, it’s a good-looking vehicle. It got a bit of a facelift for 2025, making it look “more aggressive,” according to Hyundai officials. Our tester was the XRT model, which is designed to handle a bit of mild off-roading. And in the limited action our Rockwood Green model did head for the trees and two-tracks, it handled it with aplomb.
However, that truck bed in the back is not the game changer you think it would be. In terms of aesthetics, the back end never seemed quite right. Almost as if the design team finished the front half, then went to lunch and called off in the afternoon and never got back to it. It’s not ugly, but it’s certainly not inspired. In fact, it’s reminiscent of another competitor: the Honda Ridgeline, which is politely plain at both ends.
Our tester was the XRT model, which is designed to handle a bit of mild off-roading.
With 18-inch alloy wheels, front tow hooks, fender cladding and other “look at me” touches, the Santa Cruz XRT looks a bit like the Subaru Brat from past years. There are no rear seats in the bed of course, but that entire look and feel inspires a bit of confidence … as if you could head out into the woods for a weekend.
Power for the people
Fortunately if you do head off to the woods — or the home improvement store, supermarket, or golf course — you have plenty of horsepower to do it. Well, if you opt for the more powerful of two powertrains, the 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder putting out 281 horsepower, that our tester did. It also came with the brand’s HTRAC all-wheel drive.
You’re not gonna clamber over rocks with this, but with the multi-mode system getting to the slopes in a some heavy snow or home from golf course when the rain is too much to wait out. The paddle shifters will provide a bit of additional excitement for some buyers, but I’ve never been a fan and this set didn’t change my mind.
What will say is that the 281-hp version of the 2.5-liter (the other variant is just 191 hp) is definitely worth the expense, especially tied to the 8-speed automatic which allows power to come on smoothly and even helps a bit with fuel economy. The Santa Cruz isn’t a gas sipper but you won’t spend every other day at the pump with its EPA-estimated 20 mpg combined.
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