Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Mazda CX-3, Peugeot 2008, and the Opel Crossland X. What do these fellows have in common? To the point, they’re all in the crosshairs of the all-new 2018 Hyundai Kona.
A subcompact crossover by nature that’s boasting a name borrowed from a Hawaiian district, the subcompact crossover was designed by the South Korean automaker with the European market in mind. It’s a make-or-break model for Hyundai in a vehicle segment that’s budding more and more with each and every day. And although it’s sort of late to the party, the Kona has the right stuff to take on the establishment.
Progressive and futuristic, the styling is arguably the biggest highlight the Kona can brag about. Up front, the Kona is gifted with the sort of face not even the Nissan Juke can pull off. Best described as a front fascia you can’t forget for all the right reasons, the aesthetic goodies are continued by the taut profile design and the squared-off rear end.
Moving on to what can be qualified as a wowzer inside, the Hyundai Kona's pièce de résistance is a color head-up display that displays information such as the vehicle’s speed, lane assist, navigation, and probably even traffic sign recognition. This level of technology could also mean that the soon-to-debut model will also be offered with an automatic braking system as a standalone extra on upper trim levels.
Nothing much is known about the suck-squeeze-bang-blow aspect at this point in time, but being on the small side of crossovers, it’s pretty obvious what sort of engines will be available with the Kona. The 1.0-liter T-GDI three-cylinder turbo is a given thanks to its interweave of efficiency and performance, and with a bit of luck, a turbo diesel will also make the cut as the powerplant of the frugal-minded customer.
Look forward to the official unveiling sometime in the summer of 2017, with the first retail units of the Kona scheduled to arrive at European Hyundai dealers by year’s end.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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