Four-cylinder power and AWD standard on Hyundai Santa Cruz

Getting closer to production, alleged final technical details of the all-new Hyundai Santa Cruz has been revealed ahead of the unibody pick-up’s debut in North America next year.

Spied earlier this month still undergoing testing in South Korea, US-publication Car and Driver has reported that the Honda Ridgeline-rivalling Santa Cruz will be offered as a double cab only with a choice of two four-cylinder petrol engines; a normally aspirated 2.4 and a turbocharged 2.0-litre both hooked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. All-wheel-drive will be standard on both.

According to the publication, the Santa Cruz, which will provide the base for the next generation Tucson, will be marketed as an affordable option compared to the Ridgeline and traditional body-on-frame offerings from Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, Nissan and Toyota, with pricing set to start at $25 000 (R473 068).

As is known though, the Santa Cruz will be limited to the United States as an entirely different body-on-frame model, equipped with a turbodiesel engine, will become available in 2023.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.