2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz vs. 2025 Ford Maverick

In 2022, both Ford and Hyundai launched brand-new compact pickups. Instantly, a rivalry was born. The Ford Maverick shares its underpinnings with the Escape, while the Hyundai Santa Cruz rides on an architecture based on that of the Tucson. Both are available exclusively in a crew cab and short bed configuration and are refreshed for 2025. 

Let’s see how these two pocket-sized pickups stack up against each other.

Powertrain

The base engine in both trucks is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder, making 191 horsepower. But the Ford’s 2.5-liter is a hybrid, so while its 33-mpg EPA-rated highway fuel economy only tops the Santa Cruz’s by 3 mpg, its 42-mpg city rating nearly doubles the Hyundai’s 22. This is the first year Ford has offered the hybrid Maverick with all-wheel drive, and fuel-economy estimates are not yet available for that combo.

Both the Ford and Hyundai are also available with turbocharged four-cylinder engines — the Maverick has a 2.0-liter and the Santa Cruz has a 2.5-liter. The Ford’s turbo puts out 238 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, while the Hyundai’s generates 281 and 311, respectively. In both trucks, the turbocharged engine is only available with all-wheel drive. 

The Santa Cruz is nearly 500 pounds heavier than the Maverick, though, so they’re evenly matched in acceleration despite the power difference, with both needing around six seconds to hit 60 mph from rest.

Truck Stuff

The beds in the two trucks are nearly identical in size. Though the Ford is a little longer and the Hyundai a touch wider, both are slightly larger than four feet square. Shockingly, these little trucks can haul nearly as much as some full-size beasts: The Santa Cruz can handle up to 1,411 pounds in the bed, while the Maverick can take 1,500.

It’s a different story when it comes to towing, though. The Santa Cruz is rated to tow 3,500 pounds with the naturally aspirated engine and 5,000 with the turbo. The Maverick can tug 2,000 pounds with either engine, although a towing package bumps that up to 4,000. 

However, Ford made a couple of bits of trick towing tech available on the Maverick for 2025. Pro Trailer Hitch Assist can automatically back the truck up to a trailer — a task that both trucks’ standard rearview cameras already make pretty easy. Also available is Pro Trailer Backup Assist, however, which greatly simplifies the complicated task of backing up with the trailer attached because it allows the driver to steer the trailer using a knob on the dashboard.

Hitting the Dirt

Hyundai feints at off-road capability with its XRT trim level, which rides on all-terrain tires and features front tow hooks, but it can’t match either of the Ford’s off-road packages. Buyers of the mid-level Maverick XLT can spec the FX4 package, which adds all-terrain tires, tow hooks, and skid plates. Those looking for greater capability can step up to the Maverick Tremor, which goes beyond the FX4 with a raised suspension and a locking rear differential.

Ford also offers buyers interested in a different type of performance a dedicated Maverick. New for 2025, the Lobo revives the street-truck trend from the 1980s and ’90s, lowered half an inch in the front and more than an inch in the rear. Available only with the turbocharged 2.0-liter, the Lobo features a torque-vectoring rear differential, brake parts from the Focus ST, and matte-black 19-inch wheels. Hyundai doesn’t have anything like it.

Cab Space

If their polar-opposite exterior styling doesn’t make the decision between Maverick and Santa Cruz for you, combing the specs for interior dimensions won’t help. The Ford has a 1.4-inch edge in front-row legroom, 42.8 inches to 41.4, but the rest of their measurements are nearly identical. 

Sans sunroof, the Maverick’s 40.3 inches of headroom ekes out a 0.1-inch edge on the Santa Cruz, but a sunroof tilts things in the Hyundai’s favor by 0.2 inch, 38.2 to 38.0. 

Rear headroom is 39.6 inches in both trucks, although Maverick passengers lose 0.2 inch with a sunroof, while Santa Cruz back seaters are unaffected. Rear-seat legroom depends on which powertrain the Maverick has; it’s 36.5 inches in the Santa Cruz, 36.9 in the turbocharged Maverick and 35.9 in the hybrid.

Pricing and Features

With a base price of $27,890 for the XL trim, the Maverick undercuts the Santa Cruz SE’s $29,895 by just shy of $2,000. While the Hyundai has more standard features than the Ford — including a scratch- and dent-resistant composite bed, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitors, and rear cross-traffic alert — the Maverick’s lengthy a la carte options menu means it can achieve parity with add-ons.

Although it starts off priced higher, the Santa Cruz brings more luxury features in at a lower-priced trim level than the Ford, which doesn’t include much until you get to the $37,130 Lariat — and even then, things like heated seats aren’t standard. On the Santa Cruz, heated front seats are already standard on the $31,595 SEL trim. And while the Santa Cruz offers ventilated front seats, which are not available on the Maverick, the Hyundai’s monotone interior palette is comparatively staid next to the Ford’s, which includes a number of daring two-tone and accent-stitched options, depending on trim level.

Shop Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz on TrueCar

It is not an easy decision between the 2025 Ford Maverick and 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. But both trucks have enough appeal that buyers, having decided which truck suits their style and matches their wants and needs, will find their way to the right choice.

Build your new Ford Maverick on TrueCar.
Build your new Hyundai Santa Cruz on TrueCar.

The post 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz vs. 2025 Ford Maverick appeared first on TrueCar Blog.

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