2027 Ford Maverick vs Hyundai Santa Cruz: Which Is Better? Maverick Price Cuts, a 38-mpg Hybrid and a Santa Cruz on Borrowed Time

With regular gas at $4.30, the Maverick Hybrid is cheaper to buy and to run. The Santa Cruz tows more and carries a 10-year powertrain warranty, but Hyundai is reported to be ending it.

Regular gasoline averaged $4.2953 a gallon nationally on October 19, 2026, according to AAA, up from $3.0362 a year ago, and that number frames the two smallest pickups on sale in the United States. The Ford Maverick leads with a hybrid the EPA rates at 38 mpg combined. The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a car-based pickup that, according to reports since January, is on its way out. Ford's 2027 Maverick prices have also leaked, with large cuts on the turbo trims. This comparison lines the two trucks up on price, fuel economy, towing, crash tests and ownership. One caution first: we found no Ford release with 2027 Maverick prices, so those figures come from order-guide reports in August, and Hyundai's own pricing page for the 2027 Santa Cruz would not load for us.

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The 2025 Ford Maverick Truck | Haul What You NeedYouTube ↗

Start with the Santa Cruz's future, because it changes the buying decision. Kelley Blue Book reported on February 2, 2026, citing Automotive News, that Hyundai would end Santa Cruz production in 2026 and skip a 2027 model, with a body-on-frame midsize pickup reportedly following in summer 2029. KBB's article includes no Hyundai statement. Yet 2027 Santa Cruz rows already appear on fueleconomy.gov and in dealer inventory, so a 2027 model-year truck exists, and in the sources we could open Hyundai had not confirmed an end date. The sales trend points the same way. Wikipedia's sales tables show 25,499 Santa Cruz and 155,051 Maverick sold in the United States in 2025, and autoevolution's October 3 report puts the Santa Cruz at 14,811 through September 2026, down 28.2 percent, against 123,681 Mavericks, about 74,300 of them hybrids.

Maverick pricing first, with the warning that it is unofficial. AutoGuide (August 26) and The Truth About Cars (August 28), working from dealer order guides, report that the 2027 Maverick XL becomes hybrid-only at $28,145 before destination, unchanged from 2026, and that the 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo disappears from the XL and the Lariat. The turbo survives on the XLT AWD at $30,745, the Lobo at $32,155 (down $3,775), the Lobo High at $37,155 (down $4,270) and the Tremor at $37,155 (down $3,490). Some outlets list different numbers for the hybrid and the Lobo, and neither article states Ford's destination charge or the Lariat's price, so treat all of it as provisional until Ford publishes a price sheet.

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Introducing the 2022 SANTA CRUZ | HyundaiYouTube ↗

Santa Cruz prices are also untidy, and Hyundai's own pricing page would not load for us. Autofinder's 2027 lineup runs from $30,300 to $42,775 before options. Edmunds lists the SE at $32,190 with destination and the SE AWD at $33,690, and Kelley Blue Book lists the SE at $31,950, which fits a $1,650 destination charge on top of $30,300. We could not find a published 2027 XRT price: the $44,425 KBB shows for the XRT matches 2026 XRT listings, so we use Autofinder's $42,775 as the top of the range and flag it as unconfirmed. On that basis the SE starts near $30,300 before destination, about $2,150 above the reported Maverick Hybrid XL, and the top Santa Cruz at about $42,775 sits roughly $5,600 above the Maverick Tremor and $10,600 above the Lobo. Prices vary by region and dealer, so ask for an out-the-door quote.

Fuel is where the gap is widest. The EPA's 2026 ratings for the Maverick Hybrid are 42 city, 35 highway and 38 combined in front-drive form, 40, 34 and 37 with all-wheel drive, and 39, 32 and 36 for the Lariat hybrid. The turbo Maverick rates 26 combined front-drive, 25 with AWD, 24 as a Lobo and 23 as a Tremor. FuelEconomy.gov shows no 2027 Maverick rows yet. For the 2027 Santa Cruz it lists 25 combined front-drive and 24 with AWD on the 2.5-liter, and 20 for the turbo XRT, all on regular gasoline. At 15,000 miles a year and AAA's $4.2953, that works out to about $1,700 in fuel for a front-drive Maverick Hybrid, $2,580 for a front-drive Santa Cruz and $3,220 for an XRT. Those are our own calculations from combined ratings, not measured results. The reported $28,145 hybrid therefore costs less to buy and roughly $880 a year less to run than the base Santa Cruz.

Fuel savings scale with the pump price, so it helps to see how they move. AAA's regular average was $4.4759 a month ago and $3.0362 a year ago, and the Energy Information Administration's weekly figure for October 12 was $4.331. At last year's price the same front-drive Maverick Hybrid advantage over a front-drive Santa Cruz would have been about $620 a year instead of $880, so the hybrid case gets stronger when gas is expensive and weaker when it is not. The comparison inside the Maverick lineup is starker still. An all-wheel-drive turbo Maverick at 25 mpg burns about 195 more gallons a year than a 37-mpg hybrid at 15,000 miles, roughly $840 at today's price, and the reported 2027 order guide makes that the trade-off for anyone eyeing the $30,745 XLT AWD: the extra power costs fuel every week.

Power and hauling pull the other way. The Maverick Hybrid makes 191 horsepower, and the 2.0-liter turbo makes 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet. The Santa Cruz SE and SEL use a 191-horsepower 2.5-liter with 181 pound-feet, and the XRT's turbo makes 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet, per Kelley Blue Book. Ford's site lists towing at 2,000 pounds standard and up to 4,000 with the 4K Tow Package, which it says applies to the hybrid trims, with payload up to 1,500 pounds and a bed 4 feet 5 inches long holding 33.3 cubic feet. KBB lists Santa Cruz towing at 3,500 pounds for the base engine and 5,000 for the turbo, and a bed about 4 feet long holding 27 cubic feet. We could not open Hyundai's spec page to check those, and KBB gives no payload rating.

Crash tests split in unusual ways. IIHS rates the 2026 Maverick Good in the small overlap and updated side tests but only Marginal in the updated moderate overlap test, where rear-passenger restraints and dummy movement were the weak spot. The 2026 Santa Cruz earns Good in small overlap and side and Acceptable in moderate overlap, a result IIHS applies to 2026 models after Hyundai changed the rear seat design. Crash avoidance flips the order: the Maverick's front crash prevention is Acceptable for vehicle-to-vehicle and Good for pedestrians, while the Santa Cruz is Marginal and Acceptable. Headlights are Good on every Santa Cruz, and on the Maverick's Lobo, Lariat and Tremor, but only Acceptable on the XL and XLT. Child-seat anchors are Acceptable on both, and the pages we read showed no IIHS award for either truck. NHTSA gives the 2025 Santa Cruz five stars overall and the 2024 Maverick four; both earn five stars for side crash and four for rollover, and the Maverick's passenger-side frontal score is four stars. The model years differ, so read that as a hint rather than a head-to-head.

Cabin impressions come mostly from owners, not testers. Kelley Blue Book's owner reviews of the Maverick praise the seats, the roomy cabin and standard driver-assist features, and complain about wind noise at highway speed, a start-stop system that cannot be permanently disabled and the lack of a power passenger seat. Santa Cruz owners praise a smooth, SUV-like ride and distinctive styling, and complain that thick front pillars and small rear pillars limit visibility and that the interior is mostly black plastic. Those are owner comments, not measurements, but they match the trucks' personalities: the Maverick is the simple, cheap, practical one, and the Santa Cruz is the one that feels like a crossover with a bed.

Warranty favors Hyundai. Hyundai's Santa Cruz pages list a 5-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle warranty and a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and say the longer powertrain term applies to the original owner only. Ford's filing with NHTSA lists three years or 36,000 miles bumper to bumper and five years or 60,000 miles on the powertrain. Dealer pages put Ford's hybrid and electric component coverage at 8 years or 100,000 miles, but we found no Ford page that says so, so confirm it before counting on it. Neither company's complimentary-maintenance terms could be verified here.

Timing matters for both. Until Ford confirms 2027 prices, a Maverick shopper should expect the numbers above to move, and the turbo-delete on the XL and Lariat means that anyone who wants the 2.0-liter below the Lobo has to take the XLT AWD. A Santa Cruz buyer is buying a truck with no announced successor before 2029 if the reports prove true. Hyundai's service network and warranty stay in place, but resale and parts depth on a discontinued niche model are real questions, and dealer listings already show conditional Hyundai incentives of $250 to $500. Our guide on new versus leftover model years explains when that discount is worth taking.

So which one? Buy the Maverick if you want the cheapest truck, the best fuel economy and a clear future: a reported $28,145 hybrid, 38 mpg, and 4,000-pound towing with the package. Pick the Lobo or Tremor only if the reported price cuts hold, since the turbo trims were far more expensive in 2026. Buy the Santa Cruz if you need a small truck that tows toward 5,000 pounds, want a 281-horsepower turbo, the 10-year powertrain warranty and the higher NHTSA score, and are comfortable with the uncertain future, and then use that uncertainty to negotiate hard. Whichever you choose, load the bed and sit in the back seat before signing, because the crash-test split shows that the rear seats differ more than the badges suggest.

Spec comparison

2027 Ford Maverick

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2027 Hyundai Santa Cruz

	2027 Ford Maverick	2027 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Starting MSRP before destination	$28,145 hybrid XL (reported from order guides; no Ford release found)	About $30,300 SE (iSeeCars; KBB lists $31,950 with destination)
Top trim MSRP before destination	$37,155 Lobo High and Tremor (reported)	About $42,775, top of the 2027 range (Autofinder; XRT price unconfirmed, KBB's $44,425 matches 2026 listings)
Destination charge	Not in the reports we read; one outlet cites $1,845	$1,650 (iSeeCars, KBB); not confirmed by Hyundai
Engines	2.5L hybrid, 191 hp; 2.0L turbo, 250 hp and 277 lb-ft	2.5L, 191 hp and 181 lb-ft; 2.5L turbo, 281 hp and 311 lb-ft
Turbo availability for 2027	XLT AWD, Lobo and Tremor only (reported)	XRT and higher trims
EPA combined mpg, front-wheel drive, base engine	38 (hybrid, 2026 rating)	25 (2027 rating)
EPA combined mpg, all-wheel drive	37 hybrid; 25 turbo (2026 ratings)	24 (2027 rating)
EPA combined mpg, top turbo trims	24 Lobo; 23 Tremor (2026)	20 XRT
Fuel cost per year, 15,000 mi at $4.2953 (our calculation)	About $1,700 front-drive hybrid	About $2,580 front-drive base engine; about $3,220 XRT
Fuel grade (EPA listing)	Regular, including turbo	Regular, including turbo
Towing	2,000 lb standard; up to 4,000 lb with 4K Tow Package	3,500 lb base engine; 5,000 lb turbo (KBB)
Payload	Up to 1,500 lb (Ford)	Not listed by KBB
Bed length and volume	4 ft 5 in; 33.3 cu ft (Ford)	About 4 ft; 27 cu ft (KBB)
IIHS small overlap / moderate overlap / side	Good / Marginal / Good	Good / Acceptable / Good
IIHS front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle / pedestrian	Acceptable / Good	Marginal / Acceptable
IIHS headlights	Good on Lobo, Lariat, Tremor; Acceptable on XL, XLT	Good on all trims
IIHS child-seat anchors (LATCH)	Acceptable	Acceptable
NHTSA overall (frontal / side / rollover)	4 stars, 2024 (5 / 5 / 4)	5 stars, 2025 (5 / 5 / 4)
Basic / powertrain warranty	3 yr / 36,000 mi; 5 yr / 60,000 mi (Ford NHTSA filing)	5 yr / 60,000 mi; 10 yr / 100,000 mi, original owner (Hyundai)
US sales, January to September 2026	123,681 (about 74,300 hybrids)	14,811 (down 28.2%)
Model outlook	Current generation; no end date announced	Production reportedly ending in 2026; not confirmed by Hyundai