Please join us for a moment of silence. The Hyundai Santa Cruz has been discontinued. This tiny compact truck just couldn’t cut it against the Ford Maverick. But to be fair, the Maverick decimates mid-size trucks as well. 

The Ford Maverick forces the Hyundai Santa Cruz into an early grave 

Unfortunately, the compact truck craze didn’t include a lot of success for the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Despite its debut coming six months ahead of the Ford Maverick, it never came remotely close to matching its sales. 

According to Good Car Bad Car, the Ford Maverick sold 155,051 trucks in 2025. The Santa Cruz squeaked by with 25,499 sales. Also, the Ranger sold 70,960 units, and the Nissan Frontier finished 2025 with 67,027 sales. 

While ruling the compact truck segment, the Ford Maverick dominates almost every mid-size truck as well. Only the Toyota Tacoma can’t be caught. But Hyundai’s truck dreams aren’t totally smashed, even though the Santa Cruz had five years to take off. 

Production will be reduced in the first quarter of 2026. It will officially come to an end during the first quarter of 2027. Rumors suggest that Hyundai has an inflated inventory of trucks. Maybe this will lead to stellar discounts. 

Hyundai plans to build a serious mid-size truck. It will have a body-on-frame build to provide more rugged capability. The goal is to challenge the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger. Then it will spawn a rugged SUV twin. 

For the record, I liked the Hyundai Santa Cruz a lot. But I’m 5’1”, and it felt so perfect for a short person. It’s more comfortable and has a smoother ride quality than the Maverick. But it fails to offer a hybrid powertrain.