SPY PICS: Next-gen Hyundai Kona cabin exposed

The interior of the second-generation 2023 Hyundai Kona has been exposed ahead of its global reveal around mid-2023.

Set to arrive in Australia in the second half of next year, the replacement for Australia’s third most popular small SUV behind the MG ZS and Mazda CX-30 will bring a far more sophisticated interior design to match its new exterior.

These spy photos from Korea show an ultra-modern steering wheel and a dashboard with simplified controls within a new cabin layout that has similarities with its bigger brother, the Tucson, particularly around the centre console where the traditional gear lever has been ditched in favour of a button-operated gearshifter.

It’s unclear whether paddle shifters are fitted to this vehicle but they’ll almost certainly be available in the all-new small SUV – especially on up-spec N-Line and tyre-shredding Kona N models.

There’s a large central touch-screen which is no longer a tablet-like display perched on the dashboard, but rather integrated into the dash. Expect to see the return of a (possibly larger) digital instrument cluster at least in mid-spec and premium variants as well.

As reported when we previously spied the new Kona, the Volkswagen T-Roc rival will grow in size and deliver improved interior versatility, thanks in part to its new underpinnings shared with the bigger Kia Niro.

The 2023 Hyundai Kona is widely expected to show off a futuristic front-end design with a full-width LED light bar spanning on its snout – similar in form to Staria people-mover – as pictured here in a speculative render by Dutch website Autoweek.

While there will be plenty of wholesale changes inside and out for the funky new Hyundai Kona, don’t expect too many changes on the engine front given that Hyundai has stopped investing in combustion engine research and development and diverted its significant resources to electric powertrains instead.

As such, expect to see carryover engines such as the 2.0-litre petrol engine in entry-level model grades and the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol unit in up-spec models, plus the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol mill in the Kona N hero model.

An EV version again dubbed Kona Electric is set to return to Australia for the next-generation SUV, while a 1.6-litre powertrain could also become available.

Current pricing for the now six-year-old first-generation Hyundai Kona starts at $26,900 for base (2WD automatic) versions, rising to just under $50,000 for the scorching Kona N high-performance version (AWD manual) and topping out at $64,000 for the extended-range Hyundai Kona Electric (2WD auto).

Kona sales are down 11 per cent in Australia to the end of September, but the model is still at the pointy end of the small SUV sales ladder and remains the third most popular Hyundai model after the i30 small car and Tucson mid-size SUV.

Stay tuned for more details on the new-generation Hyundai Kona as its official reveal edges closer.

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