Aimed at the successful (and almost immune to crisis) segment of the North American pick-up trucks, the Hyundai Santa Cruz it's also a different way to make a model from that segment.
Far from being a rival to the huge Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado, the Santa Cruz is much more compact, using a unibody chassis (like the cars most of us drive) instead of traditional spars. Its main rival turns out to be also Honda's unibody chassis pick-up, Ridgeline.
Anticipated by a homonymous concept in 2015, Santa Cruz ends up being quite different from this one, adopting the latest aesthetic language from Hyundai, with a notable inspiration from the new Tucson, and moving away from the more utilitarian aspect that we associate with pick-ups .
Mechanics designed for the USA
Aimed at the North American market, Hyundai Santa Cruz has two engines, both with 2.5 l of capacity. The first, atmospheric, has more than 190 hp and around 244 Nm while the second, with a turbo, offers more than 275 hp and 420 Nm.
The atmospheric engine is combined with an automatic gearbox with an eight-speed torque converter, while the turbo engine is coupled with an automatic dual-clutch gearbox. The traction is always integral.
The front luminous signature is practically the same as the Tucson.
Interior of… SUV
As for the interior, the images released by Hyundai reveal the proximity to Tucson, proving Santa Cruz's more urban vocation. There we find a 10” digital instrument panel (optional) and a 10” central screen.
The dashboard should be the same as Tucson's.
In addition to this there are leather finishes and in the field of driving aid systems the lane maintenance assistant and the frontal collision avoidance system are standard, while the tell-tale and blind spot camera or the rear traffic tell-tale can also be used. be installed.
With the start of orders in the US scheduled for this month, there is no indication that Hyundai Santa Cruz could be sold in Europe.