Hyundai Santa Cruz vs. Ford Maverick Back Seat Review

In many ways, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is the pickup version of the Tucson compact SUV. They share a common platform, their faces are awfully similar and their interiors from the front seat forward are identical. Behind the front seats are totally different, and I'm not just talking about the bed.

It was quite clear when sitting in the Santa Cruz back seat during the first drive that it was tight back there compared to the compact SUV norm, let alone what you get in the biggest examples, including the Tucson. The seatback is a tad too upright and the seat bottom rather low. The specs say there's more head- and legroom back there than in the Ford Maverick, but after testing them both, I don't think that shakes out in terms of real-world comfort and usability.

Legroom might effectively be a wash, but the seatback in the Santa Cruz is more noticeably upright than what you'll find in the Maverick (I took the above pictures at different angles, I guess you'll need to trust me here). Then there's the matter of accommodating a rear-facing child seat. In short, there was more space remaining for the front seat passenger in the Maverick. Even at 6-foot-3, I was perfectly comfortable up there with a natural seatback angle and space between my knees and the dashboard. In the Santa Cruz, the seat was pushed far forward and my knees were jammed up against the dash. Admittedly, this could be as much to do with the Santa Cruz's dash design, which juts further out into the cabin.

Now, this probably won't matter as much for a shorter front passenger, but it does illustrate the difference.