2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz Debuts Rugged New XRT Trim With Fender Flares

The Hyundai Santa Cruz is getting a new trim for 2024. The automaker is replacing the SEL Premium grade with the rugged-looking XRT trim. Hyundai has already added it to the Palisade, Santa Fe, and Tucson.

The 2024 Santa Cruz XRT gets new fender flares, side steps, bed rails, and lower door garnishes, which Hyundai pairs with trim-exclusive orange wheel center caps, black door handles, black mirror caps, and an XRT tailgate emblem. Dark chrome grille and tailgate handle trim, matte black "Santa Cruz" tailgate lettering, and dark front and rear fascias complete the truck's visual upgrade.

The new Santa Cruz XRT will sit below the Santa Cruz Limited in the lineup, building off the SEL with Activity Package. Inside, the truck has black H-Tex seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror.

Power comes from the truck's turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. Hyundai pairs it with the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters and its HTRAC all-wheel-drive system. The engine produces 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque.

The Santa Cruz will roll into 2024 with the same color palette as 2023, with six colors available: Sage Gray (a $450 upgrade for 2023), Phantom Black, Blue Stone, Atlas White, Hampton Gray, and California Sand. Every 2024 Santa Cruz will come standard with LED projector headlights and dual-zone automatic temperature control and auto defogger will be included on the SEL trim level and up.

Every trim also gets steering wheel haptic feedback for the lane-keep assist and blind-spot collision-avoidance assist systems. Hyundai will also include navigation on the SEL with Activity Package grade and up.

Hyundai hasn't released pricing information for the 2024 Santa Cruz, which could creep upward by a few hundred dollars. The 2023 SEL Premium that the XRT will replace starts at $38,935 (prices include the $1,335 destination charge). The 2023 Santa Cruz Limited costs $41,905. The trim is also available on other Hyundai models, like the most recently joining the Palisade lineup. 

Santa Cruz sales remain up for 2023 by 10 percent through the year's first six months. So far this year, Hyundai has sold 20,050 Santa Cruz trucks. Ford hasn't released Q2 2023 sales results yet. However, the Blue Oval recorded 21,478 Maverick sales just through the first three months of the year, and Q2 will only add to that number.