With the overwhelming popularity of pickup trucks in the American garage, it’s not surprising to see automakers from all corners releasing truck models. Hyundai is one of the latest with its Santa Cruz, an eerily Tucson-looking pickup with a comfortable interior, family-friendly tech and safety features, and a unique look.
2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Pricing, Specs, and Release Date
- What’s New for the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz
- Design
- Powertrain
- Interior
- Technology
- Safety
- Pricing and Release Date
- Further Research
What’s New for the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Hyundai updated the Santa Cruz for 2025, giving it a new front end, a redesigned dash with new displays, more safety features, and revisions to the XRT trim.
Design
The new Santa Cruz retains its Tucson-esque look, with Hyundai’s unique “wing” LED daytime running light (DRL) setup. Its sides are deeply carved, with dramatic shapes on both doors that smooth out toward the front and rear of the vehicle. Though it’s a pickup truck, the Santa Cruz’s shape is closer to that of a compact SUV with the rear chopped off, but its bed does offer a reasonable amount of utility for gear and cargo carrying.
Powertrain
Hyundai offers two engine options in the 2025 Santa Cruz. The base mill is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder making 191 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. A turbocharged 2.5-liter engine is available, making 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. Both engines come with an eight-speed automatic transmission, but the more powerful turbocharged engine gets an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT). Front-wheel drive (FWD) is standard and all-wheel drive (AWD) is available.
Both engines are adequate for daily driving, but the base setup feels strained when the vehicle is fully loaded. The turbo engine provides better acceleration, especially at higher speeds, where it’s better for passing and cruising.
Interior
Unlike many full-size pickups, which typically come in a variety of cab configurations, Hyundai only offers the Santa Cruz with a crew cab. That means five seats and an SUV-like cabin with comfortable accommodations. Cloth upholstery comes standard, but higher trims add synthetic or genuine hides.
Technology
The 2025 Santa Cruz comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen and an analog gauge cluster with a 4.2-inch information display. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard, along with six speakers, HD radio, Bluetooth, and more. A 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster and 10.25-inch touchscreen are available. Hyundai also offers SiriusXM radio, wireless charging, a Bose premium stereo, and a digital key system that lets owners use their phones as keys.
Safety
The 2025 Santa Cruz is too new to have seen crash testing from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but Hyundai equips a generous list of standard features. They include forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-departure alert, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, automatic high beams, and more.
Pricing and Release Date
As of this writing, the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz is set to start at $28,500 in its base SE, FWD form. Lower trims can be upgraded to AWD for $1,500, and the AWD-only XRT and Limited models start at $40,000 and $42,500 respectively. All 2025 Santa Cruz models are are subject to a $1,395 destination fee. The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz was not yet available for order at the time of publication, but it is due in dealerships shortly.