by "Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
Published 01/17/2017 at 08:45
by "Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
Published 01/17/2017 at 08:45
Tags: Hyundai
STARS: 0
I’ve been trying to figure out a way for the Santa Cruz pickup to work. Oppo, I still have no good reason for a production version of this vehicle to exist. Thankfully though, I do have an incredibly disappointing theory!
Currently Hyundai offers two midsize CUVs that are both named the Santa Fe. In the US they call the smaller, 2-row CUV the Santa Fe Sport and the larger, 3-row CUV the Santa Fe. It’s shooting them in the foot only because they look exactly the same! Don’t make two different vehicles that look identical and share identical names all while using a trim designation that includes the only word that distinguishes the two from one another. If you’re confused just reading that then you’ll be confused buying them.
*Note that Range Rover/Sport, Discovery/Sport, Outlander/Sport, and US-Market Rogue/Sport all appear to be completely different vehicles. This is where Santa Fe/Sport dropped the ball.
Alright Oppo, pickup your phone because I’m calling it now, the next Hyundai Santa Fe will only be available as a 3-row CUV and grow to same size as the current Honda Pilot. What we know in the US as the Santa Fe Sport will be replaced by a slightly larger 2-row only CUV that will be called the Santa Cruz and have a similar faux-outdoorsy machismo to the design as the concept. However that means no ute-like profile and open bed out back, crikey!
* This also fixes that whole Santa Fe and Santa Fe XL mess that is going on everywhere else. Funny that the US gets a small version of the big car while everyone else gets a big version of the smaller car...marketing!
If Hyundai does decide to make a pickup truck then it will be attached to the future Santa Cruz lineup. That would place it just slightly smaller than the new Honda Ridgeline, which is a pretty large vehicle honestly.
But consider that by the end of this decade the US market will have the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Honda Ridgeline, Ford Ranger, and Jeep Comanche filling up the midsize truck market. Is there any time in which the Hyundai truck offers more appeal? Especially without offering a full passenger cabin in order to keep the proportions in a FWD-based 4-cyl only trucklet.
They need to build it based on one of their RWD vehicles (G90, G80, K900, Stinger, G70, or either of the upcoming SUV models) and make a Ridgeline with luxury sedan ride and handling.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 08:52, STARS: 0
in canada they are the Santa Fe sport and the Santa Fe XL.
it’s not an XL in the states?
"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
01/17/2017 at 08:53, STARS: 0
Nope, the XL is dropped for simply “Santa Fe.”
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
01/17/2017 at 08:54, STARS: 0
Of course, how it’s handled in the KDM is that the two-row model is the Santa Fe, and the three-row model is the MAXCRUZ.
Because maximum Cruz isn’t a horrifying idea at all.
"Mattbob" (mattbob)
01/17/2017 at 08:57, STARS: 0
http://p.vitalmtb.com/photos/users/32606/setup_checks/28163/photos/35449/s1600_SC_bikeporn_00020_Edit.jpg?1424069530 2 wheeled santa cruz is best santa cruz
"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
01/17/2017 at 08:59, STARS: 0
Max Cruz was my alias when I fell into a bad group of serial stuntmen. My wife Vera Cruz got out of the game years ago...
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 09:01, STARS: 0
guess canada didn’t get that memo
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 09:03, STARS: 0
I still fail to see the need for the sport when the Tucson ain’t that much smaller.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
01/17/2017 at 09:04, STARS: 1
I’d have one over a Ridgeline, easily.
That said I do think Honda went entirely the wrong direction with the 2nd gen and that the 1st gen was better, so take from that what you will.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/17/2017 at 09:08, STARS: 0
Is Maximum Cruise the same thing as Maximum Overdrive?
"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
01/17/2017 at 09:09, STARS: 0
And yet,
Juke-Qashqai-Rogue-Murano
Renegade-Compass-Cherokee-Grand Cherokee
“blank”-Tucson-Santa Fe Sport-”blank”
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 09:35, STARS: 0
juke is way smaller than the Rogue. and the Murano (v6)is way bigger than the rogue the rogue Qashqai how ever are basically the same size.
renegade is small, the compass is dead, they just are still printing money with it. Cherokee is the mid and GC the full size with v6 and v8
"Probenja" (probenja)
01/17/2017 at 09:39, STARS: 0
They already have the 4 CUV strategy over here:
And yes, somehow the big Santa Fe has yet another name.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/17/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 1
Compass ain’t dead. There’s a brand new one based on the Renegade platform that slots in between the Renegade and Cherokee...
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 09:54, STARS: 0
i forgot about that one.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/17/2017 at 09:57, STARS: 0
Counterpoint: Hyundai stole the naming convention from Ford. For years, Ford sold an Explorer and Explorer Sport. The Sport was the shorter wheelbase and the two had some slight cosmetic changes but were basically the same. It seemed to work OK for Ford, so Hyundai probably got the inspiration there.
"Funktheduck" (funktheduck)
01/17/2017 at 10:03, STARS: 0
Your crop confused me for a second. I thought the vehicle names were above the pictured car.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/17/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 1
It’s a pretty forgettable vehicle! And I’m not really sure there is space... I’ve driven the Renegade and it is very small. But there really seem to be a ton of space to slot into - the wheelbases are only 5" apart and the overall length difference is about 16". My guess is that they’ll move the Cherokee further upmarket in trims (they already added an Overland - maybe the current base model will go away) to make more room in price for it to slot into.
"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
01/17/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 0
Well the Veracruz was a “luxury” SUV so when it was replaced by a more “frugal” model Hyundai couldn’t use that name. They were calling on the relationship between the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport in order to draw comparisons to a luxury brand and hide the fact that there top SUV was going down market instead of further up market. So they made it look as if the Santa Fe grew, called the actual Santa Fe the Santa Fe Sport to make it seem like a smaller version of the “bigger and better” Santa Fe even though the 5-seater version was the actual lineage bearer. Plus it made people compare the relationship to the contemporary Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. It’s actually a pretty interesting marketing flip when you look into it.
I’m sure Land Rover got the suggestion from the Ford Explorer though and that impacts the Discovery, Santa Fe, Outlander, and Rogue lines for sure.
"Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes" (sovereign-automotive)
01/17/2017 at 11:12, STARS: 0
The veloster turbo seems really expensive for what it is.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 0
it’s canada, every thing is expensive for what it is.
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 11:21, STARS: 0
I forgot to show the taxes, hope you are sitting down.
this is quebec by the way
"Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes" (sovereign-automotive)
01/17/2017 at 22:11, STARS: 0
That does seem rather steep. Why is that?
"Wacko" (wacko--)
01/17/2017 at 22:27, STARS: 0
15% sales tax.
"BahamaTodd" (bahamatodd)
01/22/2017 at 13:10, STARS: 0
The CUV is the biggest segment in the industry, so we’re going to see one in every size segment.
Nissan just introduced the Qashqai for the US as the Rogue Sport. Nissan even put out press images to help people tell the original and Sport apart:
Hyundai still claims to be working on the Santa Cruz:
http://blog.caranddriver.com/hyundai-will-have-something-new-in-chicago-but-not-the-santa-cruz/
I have a feeling a production version will be larger than the compact concept. Maybe not quite midsize, but enough for a comfortable rear seat.
