The bed itself follows the exact blueprint that we have seen in the Honda Ridgeline, with the central part of the bed having a washable and drainable center-mounted trunk. We suppose that makes up for the odd-looking taillights, which serve as the only wrinkle back there though our tester’s sleek black paintwork did a good job of compensating for that. The rear even features creative use of labeling with the Hyundai name being stamped into the tailgate handle while SANTA CRUZ lettering is stamped onto the tailgate itself. The hood has muscular bulges, while the side profile features plenty of flowing lines and creases. Still, the Santa Cruz’s styling is a league of its own thanks to the bold front grille, which features lighted elements that integrate it with the aggressive head and foglights. The truck is built on the same platform as the Hyundai Tucson. But look beyond that, and Hyundai designers have done a good job working with the source material. We called out Hyundai back then for asserting that the Santa Cruz is not a pickup but rather a “Sport Adventure Vehicle” (SAV), and our core opinion hasn’t changed this is still a pickup. Sport Adventure Vehicle Motif Defines Santa Cruz But how would it do with more prolonged exposure? We were keen to find out.
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. 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.
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