MARKHAM, ON: Hyundai recently unveiled its highly anticipated Santa Cruz Sport-Adventure Vehicle.
The 2022 Santa Cruz breaks new ground within the SUV, Truck and Crossover segments by offering a true Sport-Adventure Vehicle unlike anything else in the North American market.
Santa Cruz boasts bold yet sophisticated design, powerful and efficient powertrain options, a flexible open bed for gear, cutting-edge connectivity and a highly manoeuvrable all-wheel drive platform that is equally at home in urban and adventurefocused environments.
“Santa Cruz, with its bold styling, breaks open all new segment territory, both for Hyundai and the industry as a whole. Openbed flexibility coupled with closed-cabin security meets the changing everyday needs of its adventure-oriented buyers, while the powerful and efficient engine and superb manoeuvrability ensure it is a pleasure to drive in urban or off-road environments. Our customers will wonder just how they managed before owning one,” said José Muñoz, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor North America.
Why Santa Cruz? Santa Cruz was developed to be the ultimate Sport-Adventure Vehicle, a moniker confirmed in Hyundai’s early consumer research. The research found consumers, often living in urban environments, whose lifestyles include the need to escape to weekend adventures of all kinds. Many of these customers carry various gear and equipment that is better suited to an open bed rather than a typical SUV bodystyle.
These buyers want versatile transportation that is equally flexible for urban, adventure, occupational or even home improvement gear. Santa Cruz features a secure, open bed area which includes a lockable, sliding tonneau cover fitted as standard in Canada, hidden bed storage and versatile bed extension accessories.
At the same time, these customers still value the secure utility of a compact SUV, with its comfort, passenger space, fuel efficiency and parking ease. Santa Cruz, with its unique, bold design, created an entirely new segment that meets these specific buyer needs like no vehicle before it. Everything about Santa Cruz reflects a duality of purpose in its design execution.
This all-new category-bending vehicle holds a variety of imagery in balanced juxtaposition:
• Urban life connectivity with escape to outdoor adventure
• Work and play flexibility
• Tough yet alluring demeanour
• Roominess with manoeuvrability
• Open cargo area and secured, lockable storage
• Towing capability and fuel efficiency The forward view of Santa Cruz deploys a hidden lighting signature that becomes visible within the grille only when illuminated. The daytime running lamps (DRLs) present a parametric jewel design with high-tech precision detailing. A bold, cascading grille anchors the front view, supported by a skid plate element in the lower front fascia. Voluminous hood and fenders further communicate an imposing first impression.
In profile, Santa Cruz signals a sporty yet capable spirit. The A- and C-pillars present faster forward and rearward rakes than typical open-bed utility vehicles. Large 20-inch alloy wheels with a multi-faceted, triangular design are surrounded by armour-like wheel arches, conveying both wheel-articulation potential and off-road capability.
Powerful body side volumes contrast with precise triangular sheer-edged surfaces and tight radius character lines. From the rear, a horizontal “T” lighting signature adds visual width and distinguishes Santa Cruz from anything on the road.
The functional rear open bed area features secure, lockable in-bed storage, integrated corner bumper steps and a lockable tonneau cover, seamlessly integrated with the overall design. The rear tail lamps are embossed with: “Designed in California” as a testament to the passion of Hyundai’s California-based design team. Small, discrete design details such as this can be found throughout the exterior and interior.
Interior Design The interior of the Santa Cruz expresses a sophisticated and refined appearance. The contrasting rugged yet refined motif matches the boldness of the exterior, boasting a technical ambience that appeals to those who appreciate cutting-edge technologies in their daily lives. It features an enveloping dual-cockpit design that encapsulates each passenger.
Powerful Powertrain Santa Cruz offers one powerful, flexible and efficient powertrain – a 2.5L direct-injected turbocharged engine with an estimated 275+ horsepower and 310+ lb.-ft. of torque linked to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). This DCT includes steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters for manual shifting control by the driver.
Advanced HTRAC® AWD and Towing Capability The Canadian Santa Cruz’s 2.5L four-cylinder turbo model offers HTRAC® all-wheel drive capability for complete confidence when pursuing adventures of all kinds or for that extra peace of mind when driving in an unexpected snowfall. The HTRAC AWD system was developed as a multi-mode system, providing an electronic, variable-torque-split clutch with active torque control between the front and rear axles.
The Sport setting gives a more agile feel by sending more torque to the rear wheels, for a sporty, dynamic experience. This system has a wide range of torque distribution variability, tuned for conditions such as straight-line acceleration, medium- and highspeed cornering, and hill starts. For those customers who like to tow their weekend gear, the 2.5L Turbo AWD boasts a generous 5,000 lbs. of towing capability with Canadian-exclusive Multi Terrain Control modes: Mud, Sand and Snow.