In its first wave pump-reliant representation, this compact sports utility appeals more on look than feel, but it’s a big step up all the same.

THAT all but one Kona laid on for a meeting with media this week seemed to be factory-fresh says much about the efficiency of South Korea’s car industry.

Once all the boxes are ticked, the most powerful, most profitable of South Korea’s car makers can build and ship in no time at all.

That this week’s event occurs 11 months after the pure petrol and hybrid cars’ international unveiling; that the Kiwi-favoured Elite variants won’t arrive early next year, timing with the electric; that our sales campaign begins three months after Australia’s?

That all speaks to how protracted an exercise that box ticking can be. 

Significant patience from the Auckland-based operation has been required in negotiating what it desires and when.

Hyundai New Zealand national sales manager Charlie Cowperthwaite says with international demand for this new Kona high, we’ve just had to wait our turn.

“We were obviously anxious to get it to our customers as soon as possible, but it’s a very popular car globally.”

Popular also in New Zealand. The compact sports utility has been a sales staple right from its first release in 2017. 

In accounting for up to 30 percent of Hyundai NZ’s annual sales mix, it’s also consistently the brand’s third strongest-selling vehicle locally, behind Tucson and Santa Fe.

The electrics have been picking up, especially in the Clean Car period, to become Hyundai’s second best-selling BEV of 2023 to date.

Even so, though in having nabbed 2700 sales since launch in 2018, they nonetheless were overshadowed by petrols, out since 2017, to which 8200 registrations are credited. That includes 800 for the hybrid that only included from last year.

So many out and about and, yet, its showroom presence has been minimal at best since June. That’s when stock of the principle editions were exhausted. Basically, then, the new ones couldn’t come early enough. 

As said, some have yet to land, still. While having entry Actives and high-end Limiteds in supply now is a relief, Cowperthwaite won’t be fully relaxed until the Elites land, because they accounted for 50 percent of volume in the outgoing range. He’s hoping that’ll be in February but, at time of speaking, still hadn’t had total confirmation from the factory. Once that arrives, HNZ will make pricing public.

Meantime, the stock on NZ turf at least represents all the petrol-involved drivetrains and the N-Line enhancement that, having previously been available to just the 1.6 Turbo in the old range, is now optionally across all grades.

Driving these to and from Auckland, over to Coromandel for an overnight stay at Pauanui was a good first taste. With the most direct route still closed by weather damage, it was ‘in’ via the southern access, through Waihi, and back out around the top of the peninsula, down the Thames Estuary side.

First impressions tend to stick; if that’s the case here, then you might decide the Kona is, as before, a competent but not overly charismatic steer in its mainstream form. You won’t find fault with how it handles, but it still has a slightly reserved chassis, so you might not rave over that side of things, either. 

So-so steering feel is a weakness, the weighting is a bit whiffy and often overly-affected by the lane keep action. Dynamically, its safe and predictable. It sits resolutely on the road, has high levels of front-end grip and good body control, but on anything but its base wheels, the ride can seem a bit brittle. Basically, then, not that much improvement over the old mainstream models - which is why, I suppose, the N seemed so very special.

Pick of the bunch? On the winding stuff, it was unsurprisingly the 1.6-litre Turbo. That 146kW/265Nm engine is noticeably more effervescent than the other options and operates snappily in marriage with an eight-speed transmission. 

The turbo is also the only Kona here with all-wheel-drive and, as it also has the sportiest suspension tune and performance-themed rubber, there’s a clearly felt performance, dynamic and traction edge. While this engine has the biggest thirst and highest CO2 output, neither is too is extreme. The cited 8.5 litres per 100km is manageable and the 194 grams per 100km emissions count won’t be penalised once Clean Car becomes history. (BTW, the example on launch was the only ‘old’ one, having been imported for the Mystery Creek Fieldays in mid-June. Conceivably, could that make it one of the first right-hook Konas produced?)

Cost-effective functionality rather than fun is more the gambit of that 110kW/180Nm Atkinson cycle 2.0-litre. Regardless that it’s the biggest capacity engine, this mill is not overly muscular and marriage with a continually variable transmission seems to further dull its impetus. 

That it features as an entry proposition, driving the the glam-lite Active that surely has a fleet and rental future, is logical. Cited economy of 7.3L/100km will appeal to accountants and hirers alike. The 166g/km CO2 is also on the right side of the ledger, now.

With 4.3 litres per 100kms claimed best economy and an optimal 98g/km exhaust count, the hybrid conforms perfectly to Clean Car aspiration. 

Even without that kind of legislation to elevate its worth, there’s still a lot of appeal choosing the 1.6-litre direct injection petrol engine with an electric motor, feeding off a 1.32kWh battery. 

Beyond the efficiency that came to the fore with sub 2L/100km readings across the Hauraki Plain, it is a delight to sit behind. More energy and character than you might expect is part of the appeal; being smooth and very quiet at cruise is another. Hyundai’s reckoning of it being able to achieve at least 800kms’ out of a tank surely seals it for those who don’t want to commit to full electric, but at same token also don’t want to faff about with a petrol-electric system that you have to plug in to revive. That this drivetrain now represents in four models, up from two previously, seems good planning.

In driving through the challenging sections, of course, thought naturally went to wishing Hyundai could have found a way to keep in circulation the one Kona that really rewrote the rules. Sadly, that amazing 206kW/392Nm  2.0-litre turbo Kona N that only sold here for 14 months, achieving 91 sales, is unlikely to ever return - at least not in petrol form. Seoul hasn’t outright said it won’t replicate the monster model’s adrenaline junkie-attracting, hot hatch-emulating spirit into full electric. And, yes, if that occurs, then Hyundai NZ will be in line. “We’re all car enthusiasts,” vouches Cowperthwaite.

Plans for the EV won’t be shared until it lands; but that car has this year been the second-strongest selling of Hyundai’s BEVs, benefitting from the core compact sports utility sector having seen high electrified transition. 

The new delivers a new 65.4kWh drivetrain that, while still a 400v architecture rather than the 800v used by other latest Hyundai EVs, improves range to a WLTP-assessed 490km, recharges faster and has vehicle to load capability.

It’s also important for being the product whose considerations drove the whole design process. Whereas the old car was created foremost as a internal combustion model, but with easy conversion for electric, the new followed an EV-to-ICE process.

That process called for a bigger platform, the new K3 underpinning shared by the latest Kia Niro, that beyond being beneficial for packing batteries also provides the car with a more natural stance, frees up additional cabin space and lends the design team a better basis on which to build a look that’s derivative yet obviously new. And new-age.

The outgoing car’s styling became bolder to point of being challenging after a mid-life facelift, but this one is far more creative. What’s delivered now is an almost extra-terrestrial look, not least with that extravagant thin LED light strip around the edge of the bonnet. It might not be for everyone but it surely will be noticed.

Overall, though the car delivers a sharp and balanced execution, which just enough similarity in silhouette to what we’ve known but also obviously more adventurous and honed. The old shape carried a curious amount of baby fat. No longer. Priority being given to reducing the drag co-efficient (down to 0.27) has left it looking leaner.

At same token, it’s clear why the  N-Line enhancement that in the previous line only came on the 1.6 Turbo has now become a range-wide opportunity. The black mirrors, wing-type spoiler and optional black roof, wing-shaped bumpers and a silver side skirt are so crucial to the car’s vibe that you wonder why it simply wasn’t made standard. Could that yet happen? Cowperthwaite concedes: “I think it has huge potential. There is demand for sport-orientated styling packages and it’s not something that has been presented widely in the compact SUV space.”

Pushing up doesn’t contain to the exterior. The cabin has been a strip out and start again exercise, too; there’e very little carried through from the old car.

The driver-centric front row is now accentuated by a floating horizontal C-Pad with integrated dual 12.3-inch panoramic display screens and the shift-by-wire gear selector has been relocated from the centre console to behind the steering wheel, as per Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, which allows more storage in the open console area. 

The level of information on the displays seems to differ depending on grade, but the base functions are smart and reasonably easy to navigate - and just as well. 

This Kona has the full suite of Hyundai’s Smart Sense driver assist systems, which are comprehensive but over-zealous in their competencies. The attention warning system will trigger if you so much as look at the main screen and the lane keep is also trigger-happy. 

Like Ioniq 6, the car has the latest speed sign recognition that takes this duty way too seriously; I’m all for obeying speed signs but there’s just room for leniency here. You need be just 1kmh over the perceived limit and it sounds off an alert that’ll drive you to distraction. Hyundai won’t allow these functions to be permanently turned off, but they can be deactivated for a single journey. Unsurprisingly, it became habit when we were swapping cars with regularity to prioritise this. It’s a simple touch screen dive into a sub-menu.

Kona’s comfort features have also upgraded; the highest spec axes the base delivery cloth trim in favour of alcantara and leather upholstery and also upgrades to a sunroof and a decent stereo. 

Even the base car has nice alloy wheels, keyless entry, parking sensors for the front and rear, plus a high-definition reversing camera. It’s still a bit plasticky inside, and emphasis on durability is still evident, but it has stepped up.

On the practical side, you’re still having to cope with a smallish boot - Hyundai says the 407 litres’ capacity being down from the 488 litres cited elsewhere is due to NZ market cars all coming with a space save spare - but even though the cabin is not a lot larger, neither is the rear cabin as cramped as before. The second-row seat is fully foldable.

Kona being a better car from getting bigger is undeniable; but it’s a pity Hyundai here has taken that concept to heart with pricing. All variants cost more than comparable predecessors. 

Increase-wise, the biggest hit is taken by that N-Line pure 1.6 litre turbo, which lands with a $10,000 premium over its predecessor, but nothing escapes;  in the the old range, the cheapest Kona came in at just under $36k. Now the cheapest is an Active 2.0-litre leaving $10 change from $43k. You’ll spend $22k on top of that to buy the dearest of what’s available right now (a Limited Hybrid), but of course the electrics will conceivably be setting a new level again, given that the outgoing ones were $77,990 and $89,990 apiece.

The writer attended this event as a guest of the distributor, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.