New York show: Hyundai Venue shows off

HYUNDAI’S new Venue small SUV is expected to be offered at a sub-$20,000 starting price point when it lands in Australia showrooms in the second half of this year.

This would make it up to $4000 cheaper than the current smallest Hyundai SUV, the one-size larger Kona, that is listed at $23,500 plus on-road costs in its entry-level Go guise.

Revealed in the metal at the New York motor show overnight, the Venue will take over from the Accent light hatchback as the South Korean company’s most affordable car by the end of this year as the Accent is phased out in Australia, even though it is the top-selling light car on the market this year.

As GoAuto has reported, the Venue has already been put through Hyundai Motor Company Australia’s local chassis tuning regime in readiness for its Australian debut.

The Korean-built Venue will join a crowded field of more than 20 contenders in the small SUV segment, charged with operating as a tag team with Kona to put a hole on the sales leadership of models such as the Mitsubishi ASX and Mazda CX-3.

Hyundai designers have done a masterful job of making the diminutive Venue look bigger than it is, with big-SUV design features such as a bold grille and pronounced shoulders.

At 4036mm long and 1770mm wide, the five-door, five-seat Venue is 130mm shorter and 31mm narrower than the Kona. The wheelbase (2520mm) is 81mm shorter than that of the Kona.

Rear luggage space is down by about a third with the 60/40 split rear seat folds flat, from 1297 litres to 903 litres,.

The cargo compartment floor has dual levels – one on the same level as the folded rear seats and another lower to accommodate taller items.

The Venue will be powered by Hyundai’s 1.6-litre Smartstream Gamma four-cylinder petrol engine that has been given several tweaks to improve fuel economy.

It will be hooked up to a choice of a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic, with both transmissions driving the front wheels (unlike Kona, no all-wheel-drive option will be available).

No power or torque figures have been offered, but it is likely to be one step up on the Accent’s 1.6-litre Gamma GDI engine that develops 105kW and 167Nm while delivering 6.3 litres per 100km with the manual gearbox and 6.6L/100km with the auto on the Australian combined cycle.

The Venue will be big on safety, with features including autonomous braking, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot warning, driver attention warning and rear cross-traffic alert.

Multiple driving modes include one dubbed ‘snow’, for slippery conditions.

Venue gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Bluetooth, a reversing camera and a leather steering wheel are all standard.

The instrument panel gets twin screens for car information such as fuel economy.

Fifteen-inch wheels will be standard on base models, but 17-inch alloys will be available.

Unveiling the Venue in New York, Hyundai Motor Group executive vice president of design SangYup Lee said the Venue might be small, but its unique and bold design set it apart from the rest of the pack.

“We can see the Hyundai look in Venue, but there is a unique quality that will appeal to individual customer’s tastes and preferences in a way that sets it apart from the other SUVs in our line-up,” he said.