Rival Santa Cruz to be cancelled

[Timothyd]

Kind of saddened this morning to read Hyundai is discontinuing the Santa Cruz next year. I was kind of hoping, in the sense that competition is good for the breed, that they would bring out a vastly improved small truck. Now it looks like their next truck will be Ranger sized.


https://www.autonews.com/hyundai/an-hyundai-sunsets-santa-cruz-pickup-early-0129/

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[JMJB]

Back in 2021 I was driving a bland , gutless , Frontier . I saw a few Santa Cruz's around town , thought they were interesting and researched them . Several of the articles mentioned the competition Maverick .
I hadn't seen or even heard of the Maverick . After reading about the Maverick I rushed out and ordered the Hybrid XLT at the introductory price , got the zero percent loan that was available at that time ...waited a year for delivery ....so ....if it wasn't for the SC I probably wouldn't have gotten the Maverick , or , at least the killer deal on the Maverick ....

 

[Milous]

...Should I call him and let him know that Hyundai is ceasing production? Nah, can't do it.

Please pass on to him my sincere condolences.

 

[Darryl]

I know a lot of Ford fanboys will rejoice at this rumor of the Santa Cruz being cancelled.
But the Santa Cruz really isn't a bad vehicle, it's a very comfortable and capable truck and yes the looks are a little polarizing but there are other vehicles with questionable looks that sell well. The interior is really nice and kind of makes the Maverick interior feel like a cheap toy.

I think where Hyundai really missed the mark with the Santa Cruz is with fuel efficiency. People are looking for fuel efficient vehicles more than ever and the Santa Cruz gas mileage is no better than a midsize truck. Meanwhile the Maverick Ecoboost easily beats the SC in fuel efficiency and the Maverick Hybrid mpg rating destroys the SC's mpg rating. Most people looking for a small truck or any smaller vehicle are doing so, at least in part, for better fuel economy.

It was also quite a bit more expensive for the 2022 & 2023 model years but Ford has now raised the price substantially each year on the Maverick and now the cost of Hyundai and the Maverick aren't very far off.

Ford knows trucks. Hyundai should have stuck it out and learned like Toyota did with the T100/Tundra. They basically analyzed an F150 and copied it while putting their own spin it. Hyundai simply leaned in to keeping the same old less than successful theme when they did their refresh. Hyundai tried the same theme that Ford tried with the sport track. --an SUV with a bed. But people wanted a truck theme. I believe the sport track would have had more success as a Crew cab Ranger, with the Ranger grille, interior, etc. That's probably why the Maverick is very successful. It EMBRACES its truck theme . What Hyundai did is the equivalent of if Ford had put a bed on an escape. It would be mechanically the same vehicle but have a very different flavor

 

[Darryl]

I kinda wish the Santa Cruz had stayed. It's not fun to brag about my maverick being superior when the competition gave up. But seriously, I think Hyundai could have made some changes and made it a viable competitor. I'm wondering how they will succeed in the mid sized market that is already saturated with several good products when they could not succeed in a market with only one competitor

 

[Darryl]

Nobody is really contesting that point. The problem is that with the extremely thin field of competitors to the Maverick there is little to keep Ford honest and on their toes. Therein lies potential stagnation for the model as they aren't forced to compete.

It seems as if Toyota will be entering the market soon. Toyota knows how to copy Ford (Tundra) and keep Ford on its toes.

 

[Darryl]

Hyundai: we could not successfully compete in the market with Ford as our only competitor. So instead of making our product more competitive against one vehicle in that segment, we will retreat from that market and compete in the market where there is ford, toyota, Honda chevrolet, GMC, Nissan.

 

[mspmms]

Rival Santa Cruz to be cancelled

Meme => link

 

[TheRef]

So guess that tariff thing didn't work?

 

[710-oil-614]

That's exactly how I feel (or felt) about the Sante Fe, and Hyundai / Kia as well. The quality has come up, and they have some interesting designs that are better than most generic jelly bean cars, but I think most of their vehicles are still deeply flawed for long term (past the 100K warranty) reliability.

Also interesting to see that the Maverick outsells the Santa Fe 5:1. Probably proves a point that as much as Americans love pickups, not all all pickups are loved.

Ford did an excellent job of making the Maverick feel like a truck.

 

[Timothyd]

Back in 2021 I was driving a bland , gutless , Frontier . I saw a few Santa Cruz's around town , thought they were interesting and researched them . Several of the articles mentioned the competition Maverick .
I hadn't seen or even heard of the Maverick . After reading about the Maverick I rushed out and ordered the Hybrid XLT at the introductory price , got the zero percent loan that was available at that time ...waited a year for delivery ....so ....if it wasn't for the SC I probably wouldn't have gotten the Maverick , or , at least the killer deal on the Maverick ....

I was driving a suv, wanted a truck but they were all too big and then I read about the Maverick but
saw it had a CVT which I didn't want. Read a little more and found out it was an eCVT and ordered one. It took 17 months to get it.

 

[TheRealEman]

This is something I can certainly speak to. I’m sitting in my 2024 Santa Cruz company vehicle right now that I’ve driven probably 25,000 miles.

I was looking for a new backup vehicle, the last few weeks and from a couple friends having them and also specifically being pleased with fuel efficiency I bought a 2025 maverick hybrid last Friday

My cumulative fuel efficiency for the last 5000 miles, in this non-turbo Santa Cruz which includes mainly highway driving is 24.8 miles per gallon

I do really like the locking bed floor storage that the Santa Cruz has but that’s all it’s got over the Maverick and I’ve literally only driven the Maverick now maybe 50 miles

 

[TheRealEman]

Kind of saddened this morning to read Hyundai is discontinuing the Santa Cruz next year. I was kind of hoping, in the sense that competition is good for the breed, that they would bring out a vastly improved small truck. Now it looks like their next truck will be Ranger sized.


https://www.autonews.com/hyundai/an-hyundai-sunsets-santa-cruz-pickup-early-0129/

I would consider a small hybrid Ram, Toyota or anything non-GM truck in the future — if they watch the price point, which is unlikely. Mavericks to me feel truck like, whereas the Santa Cruz did not. I also agree on the gas mileage point.

 

[rtphokie]

the market is working the Cuz was simply not selling thus Hyundai is dropping it

Looking at the numbers, Maverick outsells Santa Cruz 6 to 1

 

[B2000]

CEO of Hyundai in America Jose Munoz never liked the Santa Cruz because they made less money than they do on a Tucson. It was developed before he was in the job and I'm sure he is pleased to dump it. He never had any desire to sell more.

I liked the SC when it showed up as a concept back in 2015 and was planning to buy one to get the double function of a car and the occasional truck. I went to drive a Genesis and that dealer also had the SC and a Maverick for comparison. I drove all 3 and decided to buy the Mav. The SC was fine but I preferred the traditional truck look of the Mav. The interior of the SC had a lot of electronic doo dads but was also shiny piano black and looked too fussy for a truck. All of the Hyundai dealers were going full boat on the price and forcing you to take the tacky add on packages so that inflated the price by another $5000. I bought the Mav at sticker with no ups or extras.

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