All-new small SUV to be named Hyundai Venue
Smallest, cheapest Hyundai SUV to debut next month and arrive here this yearHyundai has given a name to its smallest, cheapest SUV yet: Venue.
The Hyundai Venue will be positioned below the Kona, which is currently priced from $23,500, in the South Korean brand’s Australian SUV line-up when it arrives in local showrooms later this year.
The entry-level SUV will be unveiled in full at the New York motor show on April 17. Until then, we’ll have to make do with a single image of the tailgate-mounted V-E-N-U-E badge.
Venue will take the number of models in Hyundai’s local SUV range to five.
The choice of name is an odd break from Hyundai’s ‘place name’ SUV branding strategy. Currently the range comprises the Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe and (in the US) Palisade nameplates.
Officially, Hyundai says the Venue SUV references a “place where people want to be seen, or in this case, inside the vehicle”.
The Australian press release said: “the Venue symbolises a trendy, unique style, perfect for Hyundai’s newest and smallest SUV” and that it “embodies the characteristics of ‘the place to be’, en route to the final destination, wherever that may be”.
Hitherto codenamed ‘QX’ and previously rumoured to carry the Styx nameplate, the 2019 Hyundai Venue will compete with the likes of the Suzuki Ignis (from $15,990).
With a sub-$20,000 starting price, it’s also expected to become an entry point for customers to the Hyundai brand when it goes on sale in the second half of this year.
Likely based on the next-generation Hyundai Accent hatch platform, the pint-size Korean crossover will be available only in front-wheel drive form, and is expected to be powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.
Final development is currently taking place for the Hyundai Venue, which like all Hyundai models will receive local tuning before it goes on sale this year.
At the other end of the Hyundai SUV scale, the Korean brand’s Australian division is working on a business case to import the full-size eight-seat Palisade, which is currently produced only in left-hand drive.
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