2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Pickup Truck Is Finally Coming in 2021

The all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is finally going to hit the markets in the next year. According to officials, the upcoming truck will be built at Hyundai’s plant in Montgomery, Alabama. If you didn’t know, this is the same plant where the Elantra, Sonata, and SUV Santa Fe are built together.

From some early reports, the upcoming Santa Cruz is expected to share underpinnings with the latest Hyundai Tucson. That means it will be built on the car-like unibody construction, which is opposed to the truck-like body-on-frame architecture. Generally, this is not the first time that Honda uses the SUV platform on a pickup truck. The real example is the Ridgeline pickup that’s related to the Pilot crossover SUV platform.

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz side

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Spy Photos

The first-ever Hyundai’s pickup truck Santa Cruz has been spied testing heavily camouflaged a couple of times. After plenty of renderings and rumors, we finally have clues about how this model will look. First of all, Santa Cruz will be based on the next-gen Tucson crossover, and both models wears the same design language.

At first glance, spy photos reveals a blocky grille, attractive LED headlights, black cladding around the wheel arches, and a kicked-up side window. Dimensionally, the new pickup truck will be around a foot longer than the latest Tucson. That means it should be around 194 inches long. In the same segment is the Ridgeline model, which is longer, measuring 210 inches. Behind, Santa Cruz features completely covered bed, that looks similar as on new Ridgeline. Overall, the design will be more attractive than most pickup trucks, and we cannot wait to see this model uncovered.

Interior Rumors

The most mysterious part of the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is its cabin. However, more and more gossips indicate that this pickup truck will definitively borrow plenty of existing elements from other models.

Considering that Hyundai is a great brand, we should expect many quality materials and techs. Generally, don’t be surprised if you see an almost identical cabin as in the latest Tucson. Also, expect comfort to be on a higher level, with plenty of room for five passengers in two rows.

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz spy shots

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Powertrain Specs

Besides sharing the same architecture with the Tucson model, the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz will most likely use some of its powertrains. The latest Tucson employs a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine capable of producing 164 horsepower. This unit comes standard, while a more potent engine is available as an option.

The optional engine consists of a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine producing 181 horses. Moreover, both powertrains are available with a 6-speed automatic transmission, as the only option. However, from some rumors, it’s also possible that we will see a diesel engine in other markets, along with a possible hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrains.

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz rear

Production and Price

Finally, the all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is coming, and we can expect its arrival sometime next year. The upcoming pickup truck was already seen multiple times on roads, performing different tests.

As we mentioned, this truck will share underpinnings with the latest Hyundai Tucson, and it might also borrow some of its engines. The price is not available yet, but many experts believe that everything bellow $25,000 is acceptable.

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