2024 New York Auto Show: Hyundai Doubles Up

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

NEW YORK -- Hyundai kicked off the 2024 New York International Auto Show by dropping the new Tucson and a refreshed Santa Cruz minitruck.


The Santa Cruz gets an interior and exterior refresh, standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the XRT trim gets beefed up a bit with all-terrain tires and front tow hooks.

As part of the refresh, the dash gets redesigned to have a curving layout that sweeps the gauge cluster into the infotainment screen.

XRTs get their own grille, front and rear fascias, 18-inch wheels, and badging. The approach angle is increased, and a 360-degree camera and blind-spot monitoring are added.

For the rest of the lineup, the grille and front fascia are reworked along with the daytime running lights. Customers now have new wheel designs to chose from.

In addition to the new dash, there's a new steering wheel and new audio/climate controls with -- hallelujah -- knobs and buttons. The rear-seat armrest has two cupholders.

There's more -- over-the-air update capability is added. So are USB-C ports, an in-car payment system, Hyundai's BlueLink+ infotainment app, a digital key, towing mode for certain trims, and a fingerprint scanner. Forward-attention warning is now available.

Perhaps the bigger news from Hyundai is the new Tucson. It, too, is refreshed, getting new wheel designs and changes to the front and rear lighting. The front and rear ends are massaged, getting new fascias. The grille is new, too.

The interior, meanwhile, gets the same treatment as with the Santa Cruz.

Certain models now get an column shifter, and the wireless charging pad gets moved to a more convenient location.

Other, smaller changes include the addition of noise-reducing laminated glass on the Limited trim.

As with the Santa Cruz, other additions include standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus available features such as forward-attention warning, digital key, and fingerprint scanner.

[Images: Hyundai]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Ajla Ajla on Mar 27, 2024

    My mother was a big fan of the Santa Cruz but didn't like the color palette or user interface. These updates might get her buying one.

  • Vulpine Vulpine on Mar 27, 2024

    I already have some of that in my '24 Santa Cruz I just purchased. And honestly, I like the current grille more than I do the new one. I won't argue the overall effect, however. So far I'm VERY pleased with my new, smaller, truck.

    • Vulpine Vulpine on Mar 27, 2024

      Note: It's VERY hard to argue with the factory warranty.


  • C-b65792653 I'm starting to wonder about Elon....again!!I see a parallel with Henry Ford who was the wealthiest industrialist at one time. Henry went off on a tangent with the peace ship for WWI, Ford TriMotor, invasive social engineering, etc. Once the economy went bad, the focus fell back to cars. Elon became one of the wealthiest industrialist in the 21st century. Then he went off with the space venture, boring holes in the ground venture, "X" (formerly Twitter), etc, etc, etc. Once Tesla hit a plateau and he realized his EVs were a commodity, he too is focused on his primary money making machine. Yet, I feel Elon is over reacting. Down sizing is the nature of the beast in the auto industry; you can't get around that. But hacking the Super Charger division is like cutting off your own leg. IIRC, GM and Ford were scheduled to sign on to the exclusive Tesla charging format. That would have doubled or tripled his charging opportunity. I wonder what those at the Renaissance Center and the Glass House are thinking now. As alluded to, there's blood in the water and other charging companies will fill the void. I believe other nations have standardized EV charging (EU & China). Elon had the chance to have his charging system as the default in North America. Now, he's dropped the ball. He's lost considerable influence on what the standardized format will eventually be. Tremendous opportunity lost. 🚗🚗🚗
  • Tassos I never used winter tires, and the last two decades I am driving almost only rear wheel drive cars, half of them in MI. I always bought all season tires for them, but the diff between touring and non touring flavors never came up. Does it make even the smallest bit of difference? (I will not read the lengthy article because I believe it does not).
  • Lou_BC ???
  • Lou_BC Mustang sedan? 4 doors? A quarterhorse?Ford nomenclature will become:F Series - Pickups Raptor - performance division Bronco - 4x4 SUV/CUVExplorer - police fleetsMustang- cars
  • Ede65792611 Got one. It was my Dad's and now has 132K on it. I pay my Mercedes guy zillions of dollars to keep it going. But, I do, and he does and it's an excellent vehicle. I've put in the full Android panel for BT handsfree and streaming with a backup cam.
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