[art_yow]

It was interesting to see the Santa Cruz in person. It looks great!
- smaller than the new Honda Ridgeline, but larger than a compact car
- does have a finished interior (but no wipers)
- back seat area looks like it is very narrow
- rear seating does NOT appear usable for adults -more like a 1/2 size seat
- rear bed appears to have side compartments
- rear bed material heavy duty.
- appears that the bed extension may be just a concept and not yet functional
- no visible seam in bed liner to open the tailgate
- no visible extension mechanism below the bed
- a product manager from Hyundai was on site but was not willing to reveal much. He did say that the positive feedback and interest on the Santa Cruz FAR exceeds any other prototype Hyundai have ever done

Couple of photos:

 

[Santana]

i can also see that fake seam between the tailgate and where it meets the body. too bad they didn't make it functional, could be that hard, probably the easiest thing to do especially on a concept since it's only a few hands that get to use it.

 

[EricB]

Not having a functional tailgate will be a deal breaker for me. What a PITA it would be to load and unload a refrigerator or washing machine w/o a drop down tailgate. I am simply dumbfounded and kinda irritated by this.

 

[BahamaTodd]

Not having a functional tailgate will be a deal breaker for me. What a PITA it would be to load and unload a refrigerator or washing machine w/o a drop down tailgate. I am simply dumbfounded and kinda irritated by this.

You think that's upsetting - it doesn't even have an engine!

Its a non-functional concept vehicle for show. It will have a tailgate and potentially an extending bed.

Either way, its much too small for a refrigerator and a washing machine would be pushing it.

 

[James E Dandy]

It looks every bit as big as my baja bed. I've hauled refrigerators for scrap & washing machines with my baja with the bed extender out.

 

[Santana]

It looks every bit as big as my baja bed. I've hauled refrigerators for scrap & washing machines with my baja with the bed extender out.

Did you have it lined with anything special, i can imagine things like that without a liner might leave some evidence of it once being their.

 

[Santa]

I was actually there too and admittedly tried to open the doors for a while but wasn't able to. How did you see the interior?

 

[Santana]

Surprised the interior was even able to be seen since I heard it wasn't a complete interior or anything they wanted to show off, even the really dark windows give that off. I bet this is a concept they push around and never start up and drive.

 

[art_yow]

I was actually there too and admittedly tried to open the doors for a while but wasn't able to. How did you see the interior?

With the bright lights and display in the background you could see through the dark glass. There were headrests for the back seats and a raised dash over the instrument cluster. Other than that you could not see a lot of interior details.

 

[Colin]

Tucson interior is best idea of what Santa Cruz will look like.

 

[Kevin]

This vehicle would be ideal for an " empty nester " ,with petrol poised to skyrocket in price the next 5 years (hope I am wrong )
One other thing a class 1 or class 2 hitch ,should ease space anxiety with a small light weight trailer for the occasional appliance or trip to Home Depot .My current pickup has a very small bed and that hasnt stopped me from realizing its full utility ,at my present age I dont feel like unloading a huge bed I cant reach over into ( an 8 foot styleside bed will hold an enormous amount of stuff plus the bedsides now are so high you cant reach over and retrieve anything unless you have a ladder or something )

 

[Santana]

This vehicle would be ideal for an " empty nester " ,with petrol poised to skyrocket in price the next 5 years (hope I am wrong )
One other thing a class 1 or class 2 hitch ,should ease space anxiety with a small light weight trailer for the occasional appliance or trip to Home Depot .My current pickup has a very small bed and that hasnt stopped me from realizing its full utility ,at my present age I dont feel like unloading a huge bed I cant reach over into ( an 8 foot styleside bed will hold an enormous amount of stuff plus the bedsides now are so high you cant reach over and retrieve anything unless you have a ladder or something )

Or unless you're a really tall person like 6'5 or something. Some people even use the tire as leverage, stepping up it to jump themselves up a bit.

 

[Colin]

Funny, you say empty-nesters, but I am thinking young professional. It's great for both I guess. Proves that it is versatile and has a large number of people who would be potential buyers.

 

[Santa]

I'm sure it'll come with a standard or optional tow hitch. Only makes sense if it's a truck since that seems to be a standard ability but the question would be how much it will be able to tow while the truck bed is loaded down.

 

[Santana]

Funny, you say empty-nesters, but I am thinking young professional. It's great for both I guess. Proves that it is versatile and has a large number of people who would be potential buyers.

College/University students is another good category, much like what I see with the Nissan Xterra when it came to market. It was the coolest SUV on the block and seeing one at the local college/university campus very common. In a way the Santa Cruz can appeal to the same crowd.

 

[Colin]

I guess those students would be going to more suburban or rural schools because I would think that urban students would just opt for public transit.