New car effect! Pickup truck sales surge..The modern Santa Cruz rival
Jul 09, 2025
|
Sales of Kia's first body-on-frame pickup truck, Tasman, and KGM Musso EV, the first electric pickup for domestic cars, grew 239% year-on-year.
There is a vehicle that is not well known to us during the domestic brand pickup. It's modern Santa Cruz. Hyundai Santa Cruz is a model for targeting the North American market and is not currently sold in Korea.
The Santa Cruz is a unibody small pickup truck. It's pointing to Ford Maverick as a rival vehicle in the U.S. I compared the two vehicles in the overseas media Autoblog.Tested the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz and 2025 Ford Maverick. Which car would be the best.
Some people think Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick are "real trucks". Both models are built on the crossover passenger SUV platform.Maverick is based on the Ford C2 architecture. This is shared with Escape and Bronco Sports.
Santa Cruz, on the other hand, is a modern Tucson base.That is, it features a unibody structure, a horizontal placement engine, and a standalone rear suspension.Both pickup trucks applied reinforced subframes to the lower part of the body, especially to the rear, to secure traction due to increased load.
Ford Maverick is enjoying tremendous success three years after its launch.Ford has sold 131,142 Mavericks in the U.S. so far in 2024. This is a 39.4% increase from 94,058 units in 2023.
Hyundai Santa Cruz sold 32,033 units, down slightly from 36,675 units in 2023.Nevertheless, Santa Cruz remains a lucrative niche product that is more premium lifestyle-oriented for modern times.
Both vehicles provide practicality for appropriate sized bodies.Maverick can tow up to 1800 kg. The loading bin can carry up to 600kg.It is equipped with a hybrid drive system with fuel efficiency of up to 18.5 km/l.
Santa Cruz has a limited basic load. Instead, it has a smoother ride, optional turbo engine, lower trunk of the load box, and more sophisticated interior space. Santa Cruz underwent minor improvements, including the addition of a front towing hook to its 2025 XRT model. It is a welcome change.
However, Hyundai has yet to add hybrid power trains or off-road or normal road driving performance-focused trim to its lineup.The Santa Cruz, produced at Hyundai Motor's Alabama plant (HMMA), is one of the most car-like pickup trucks in the market.
The basic Santa Cruz is equipped with a 2.5-liter natural inhaler series four-cylinder engine. It exerts 191 horsepower and 25 kg.m. of torque.Front wheel drive combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission is the basic specification. HTRAC AWD is optional.
This configuration can be towed up to approximately 1600 kg. Fuel economy is 9.3 km/l in the city center and 12.7 km/l on the highway. For customers looking for stronger performance, Hyundai offers a 2.5-liter turbocharger four-cylinder engine with 281 horsepower and 43 kg.m of torque. It is coupled with an 8-speed dual clutch transmission.
AWD is basic, so it can be towed up to about 2227kg. Fuel economy is 8km/l in the city center and 11.4km/l on the highway. Santa Cruz excels in comfortable and agile daily driving.With a loading capacity of over 640kg in all trims, the self-leveling rear suspension boasts excellent towing performance.
Ford made a major update as it improved its front design and powertrain on its 2025 Maverick.Notably, Maverick Hybrid also now offers AWD as an option. The new Robo trim adds a smart street sensibility to the lineup.
Since its launch, the basic price of Maverick has increased by more than 7,000 dollars (about 9.5 million won), but demand remains high.Maverick is produced at a pod stamping and assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The basic hybrid power train combines a 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder engine with an electric motor. It exerts a maximum output of 191 horsepower and a maximum torque of 20.9 kg.m.The power is transmitted through the CVT.Front wheel drive (FWD) is the basic specification, and all-wheel drive (AWD) is available as an option.
Fuel economy is excellent at 17.8km/l when driving in the city, 14km/l when driving on the highway, 17km/l when driving on the four-wheel drive (AWD), and 14.4km/l when driving on the highway. For stronger performance, the 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharger four-cylinder engine produces 238 horsepower and 37.3 kg.m of torque. It is combined with an 8-speed automatic transmission and a basic AWD.
robo trim is equipped with an enhanced seven-speed transmission. Fuel economy is 9.3km/l in the city center and 12.7km/l on the highway, similar to the turbo option in Santa Cruz.The maximum load of all mavericks is about 640 kg. The traction force is up to about 1800 kg when applied to the 4K towing package.
The 2025 Maverick is equipped with a 13.2-inch infotainment touchscreen and an 8-inch digital instrument panel.In addition, Maverick boasts a larger rear seat space and a more solid interior design than Santa Cruz.
Trims include XL (about 38.4 million won), XLT (about 41.9 million won), Robo (about 48.7 million won), Lari Art (about 52.5 million won), and Tremor (about 56 million won).
Neither model can carry more load than a large pickup truck. But you can park in the garage, and you can also enter the city driveway. It's thousands of dollars cheaper than regular trucks, but it can do 80% of what most people can do with trucks.
Both trucks can carry as much load as some medium-sized trucks, even more. In many ways, it symbolizes the future of functional vehicles.Santa Cruz feels more sophisticated and luxurious at the top trim, but it's comfortable and is better suited for commuting.
Maverick isn't a bit luxurious, but it has the benefit of being more versatile with hybrid AWD options and a wider range of trims. Ford Maverick's domestic launch is undecided and it is regrettable that neither model can be met.
Editor Song Moon-cheol mc.song@carguy.kr
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
