Hyundai has debuted its 2025 Santa Cruz at this year’s New York Auto Show. With deliveries expected to begin at dealerships later this summer, it’s time to answer the question every dad is programmed to ask at the end of a meal when dining out: “How’s the damage?” As with almost every 2025 light commercial vehicle, the upcoming Santa Cruz costs more than the current Santa Cruz. Let’s break down what you get the money for. We see a new grille and fresh front bumper, redesigned daytime running lights, and new wheel designs. The interior updates are similar in scope to what we saw on the refreshed Tucson, the Santa Cruz’s SUV sibling. That means the arrival of Hyundai’s panoramic curved-screen setup with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system running the latest Hyundai software. It does away with the touch-sensitive controls on the center console in favor of real buttons and switches for easier operation, and makes wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay standard. Hyundai has also redesigned the steering wheel, air vents, instrument panel and rear seat armrest.
Also in keeping with the Tucson’s technology, several new systems are available in the Santa Cruz, including things like a fingerprint scanner for starting the vehicle, Digital Key 2 technology (for using the phone as a key), over-the-air updates for the infotainment system, more powerful USB-C ports, and a new driver attention monitoring system.
And Hyundai has made the XRT off-road trim a more rugged off-road vehicle after it was introduced as an appearance package in 2024. The XRT can be identified by an exclusive grille, red tow hooks protruding through a redesigned front bumper that offers a better approach angle, a new rear bumper and 245/60R all-terrain tires wrapping trim-specific 18-inch “wrench-style” wheels. The cabin is adorned with XRT logos and the Surround View Monitor is standard to improve visibility off-road.
Powertrains remain unchanged. That means a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder making 191bhp and 250Nm of torque, feeding either the front or both axles via an eight-speed automatic transmission, or a turbo variant of the same engine making 281bhp and 450Nm, feeding both axles via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. However, the 2.5 turbo has a tow mode in its drive mode selection on both Limited and XRT trims, although maximum capacity remains at 2.2 tonnes; the non-turbo version can tow 1.68 tonnes.
Finally, the Night trim is no more. The ultra-dark stepping stone that fills the $10,000 gap between the SEL and XRT is now the SEL with the Activity package.
OK, now to the MSRPs. The 2025 prices after deducting the delivery fee of $1,395 and their differences from the 2024 introductory price are as follows:
- SE: $29,895 ($1,910)
- SEL: $31,595 ($1,220)
- SEL Activity: $34,595 (New Equipment)
- XRT: $41,395 ($210)
- Limited: $43,895 ($1,490)
As we’ve seen with some other 2025 model year vehicles, Hyundai has raised prices for the 2024 model year. We have a feeling automakers are doing this for two reasons: 1. They can; 2. So that stories about new pricing don’t seem so bad when comparing current prices to future ones. For example, the 2023 Santa Cruz SE started at $26,745 after a $1,010 delivery fee. When the small van was announced for 2024, it started at $27,985 after a $1,335 delivery fee. Based on a Hyundai price list, the SE’s MSRP increased to $26,900 plus a $1,395 delivery fee in June of this year, for a base price of $28,295. So what looks like a $1,600 premium over the 2024 Santa Cruz is only retroactive to June and doesn’t take into account the cumulative $310 MSRP increase and destination before that point.
As for the supposed competition, the 2025 Honda Ridgeline will start at $41,545, while the still-best-selling Ford Maverick will start at $27,890 in 2025.
