2022 GMC Canyon vs 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Being a newbie in a given field means having to catch up to established leaders, but it can also bring a different perspective. Hyundai has never sold a pickup truck in the United States, and its first effort is unlike anything else on the market.

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is the first truly compact pickup to be sold in the U.S. in over a decade, and unlike conventional body-on-frame pickups, it features car-like unibody construction. This packaging sacrifices some capability, but that’s beside the point. Hyundai didn’t design the Santa Cruz to compete directly with conventional trucks. It doesn’t even call the Santa Cruz a pickup; it prefers the term “sport adventure vehicle.”

While it may win over some truck buyers who want a pickup that’s easier to park, the new Santa Cruz will appeal mainly to new-car buyers who want to replace a sedan or crossover SUV with something a bit more rugged.

To figure out where the Santa Cruz fits into the current automotive landscape, we spent a day driving it around on roads in and around its namesake California city. The test units were in U.S. specification. In Canada, Hyundai also offers Preferred, Preferred with the Trend Package, and Ultimate trim levels. We sampled the U.S. equivalent of the range-topping Santa Cruz Ultimate model for this test drive.

Compared to full-size models, midsize pickups offer buyers the convenience of the pickup truck body style at a more budget-friendly price. Sure, you sacrifice a bit in the way of interior space and capability, but for many buyers, the smaller footprint and increased efficiency make these midsize offerings more livable.

The GMC Canyon—corporate cousin to the Chevrolet Colorado but with a more premium look and feel—gets a couple of changes for 2022. A new Denali Black Edition equipment package joins the options list, and the High Elevation package has been renamed the Elevation Premium package.

The 2022 GMC Canyon is available in four trim levels: Elevation Standard, Elevation, AT4, and Denali. We drove the off-road-focused AT4 model for this review.