The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a charming little compact pickup truck that blasted onto the scene in 2021 with much fanfare. It was the first such-sized pickup to appear in the American market for some time, and Hyundai’s first attempt at breaking into a utilitarian segment.
Though it’s only been around for a few years, Automotive News, citing unnamed sources, reports that Hyundai is planning to cut and eventually end production of the Santa Cruz, with no direct replacement planned.
While Hyundai declined to comment on whether the Santa Cruz is actually on its way out, a spokesperson told The Autopian the pickup “has helped Hyundai gain valuable experience and visibility in the open-bed market.” Here’s what we know.
Allegedly Cut Short Due To Slow Sales
Automotive News spoke with several sources on Hyundai’s move to reportedly kill off its compact pickup ahead of schedule, citing low demand. From the article:
Originally slated to continue through the second quarter of 2027, Santa Cruz production now is expected to end sooner, a person briefed on the plan said.
Another source confirmed the phaseout, driven by weak sales and elevated inventory. The truck’s only like-sized competitor, the Ford Maverick, outsold it 6-to-1 in 2025, leaving Hyundai dealerships with nearly five months’ worth in stock at year end.
Hyundai has told suppliers it is cutting Santa Cruz production by roughly half this quarter, one source said.
As Autonews points out, discontinuing the lagging Santa Cruz would free up space at the company’s Montgomery, Alabama assembly plant, where it also builds the Tucson. The Tucson, coincidentally, is Hyundai’s most popular car—the Korean automaker sold over 200,000 of them last year, an increase of 14% over the year prior. Going by a pure demand perspective, shifting resources to the car that people want more of isn’t a bad move.
If It’s True, I’m Not Terribly Surprised
Since the Ford Maverick’s debut, the Santa Cruz has been playing second fiddle in the small (but very competitive) compact pickup segment. The Ford is both more efficient (38 mpg combined versus 25 mpg for the Hyundai) and has a more spacious bed (4.5 feet long versus 4 feet for the Hyundai). The Maverick is also cheaper, starting at $29,840 including destination, compared to $31,350 for the Santa Cruz.
Buyers overwhelmingly prefer the Maverick. Ford sold 155,051 of the little pickup in 2025, while Hyundai sold just 25,499 Santa Cruzes.
Even if the Santa Cruz could match the Maverick’s specs and price, I suspect the sales numbers would remain similar. Ford is as well-established in the pickup truck game as a brand could be, while Hyundai has never sold any sort of pickup truck in America before this one. Which brings me to why Hyundai says it’s happy with how the Santa Cruz has shaken out in the American market so far.
Hyundai Is Looking At More Than Just Sales Numbers
A Hyundai spokesperson I reached out to wouldn’t comment when asked to confirm whether Automotive News’s reporting was accurate, but they did provide some interesting insight into how the company is measuring the Santa Cruz’s impact on the U.S. market. Here’s the full statement:
“The Santa Cruz Sport Adventure Vehicle continues to be a valued ongoing member of the Hyundai product portfolio. As with all Hyundai vehicles, long range product portfolio planning is guided by many factors including consumer demand and overall market trends. We don’t comment on future product speculation.
Since its launch in 2021, our Santa Cruz sport adventure vehicle has successfully introduced Hyundai to a new type of U.S. consumer who values the capability, versatility, and rugged image of open-bed vehicles.
Not only does Santa Cruz continue to be a valued ongoing member of our product portfolio from a sales perspective, the model has helped Hyundai gain valuable experience and visibility in the open-bed market. These developments contributed directly to the announcement of a new midsize body-on-frame truck that we confirmed during our 2025 CEO Investor Day last September. That vehicle is due in the U.S. market before 2030.”
That last paragraph is the important part. In essence, it suggests that Hyundai is using the learnings it’s gained from developing and selling the Santa Cruz to U.S. buyers as a stepping stone for the bigger, body-on-frame truck it plans to launch in the near future (2029, per Automotive News).
All things considered, that makes a lot of sense—while the Santa Cruz isn’t (wasn’t?) a gigantic, runaway success, Hyundai surely learned a whole bunch about how to market a pickup truck in America, and now knows far more about their buyers and their preferences. That intel alone is extremely valuable.
This new truck will likely look and drive far differently than the Santa Cruz, a unibody truck that shared much of its design with the Tucson crossover. This one should also be bigger, and compete with the likes of the Ford Ranger, the Chevrolet Colorado, the Toyota Tacoma, and the Honda Ridgeline, rather than the Maverick. Whether it’s any more successful, well, we’ll just have to wait a few years and see.
Top graphic image: Hyundai
The post The Santa Cruz Is Reportedly Dying, But Hyundai Says Making It Was A Valuable Learning Experience appeared first on The Autopian.
