Hyundai Kona turbo returning for 2026 

Six months on from its axing, turbo-petrol power is returning to the local Hyundai Kona line-up in the form of the 2026 Hyundai Kona Premium N-Line 1.6T AWD – a $48,950, single-batch offering destined for local showrooms in the coming months. 

The turbo-petrol powertrain’s Aussie return comes as something of a surprise given it only accounted for 10 per cent of all Kona sales between January 2024 and July 2025. 

Hyundai Australia is yet to formally announce the new variant or add it to its configurator but has confirmed to carsales it’s coming after we spotted it in an industry pricing guide and found its full specifications on Redbook. 

Going by the latter, the 2026 Kona Premium N-Line 1.6T AWD’s equipment list will mirror that of the previous version, albeit now with a panoramic glass roof and powered blind as standard – hence the $2200 price increase. 

Headline gear therefore includes heated and cooled front seats with power adjustment, suede upholstery, a black headliner, dual 12.3-inch displays, driver’s seat with memory, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and start, a heated steering wheel, sat-nav, ambient interior lighting, an eight-speaker sound system, 19-inch alloy wheels, six drive modes and sports pedals. 

No changes have been made to the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine which continues to output 146kW/265Nm and drive all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

Hyundai Australia didn’t elaborate as to why the flagship powertrain was getting an encore, nor was it able to confirm the allocation size; only that it was the result of a “one-off production run” with “limited quantity” and the vehicles hadn’t arrived in country yet. 

There’s still no word on when a new hot Kona N might surface. 

How much does the 2026 Hyundai Kona cost? 
Kona – $32,700 
Kona HEV – $36,700 
Elite – $35,700 
Elite N-Line – $39,200 
Elite HEV – $39,700 
Elite HEV N-Line – 43,200 
Premium – $41,700 
Premium N-Line – $44,700 
Premium HEV – $45,700 
Premium HEV N-Line – $48,700 
Premium N-Line 1.6T AWD – $48,950 (+$2200) 
* Prices exclude on-road costs 

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