The Kona is a bull’s eye for Hyundai. So many people like its unique bodywork, but will it stay that way with the new nose?
We are now used to it, but when it was introduced in 2017, the Kona was difficult to install. Is it a B segmenter like the Nissan Juke and Renault Captur? Or more of a C-segmenter, such as a Qashqai or Kadjar? The Kona is a bit in between. Like the porridge from Goldilocks’ ancient tale, this is apparently just right for many.
In addition, Hyundai showed guts by making the Kona a striking appearance. The car is not a larger or smaller version of another Hyundai, but is immediately recognizable as Kona from every angle.
The coach, often executed in two colors, is particularly striking because of the layout of the front and rear. In both cases the lighting is arranged in several layers. At the rear, the turn signals and reversing lights have a separate housing in the bumper, while the actual rear lights are located higher. For it are the actual headlights that are mounted a bit lower. Above it we find flattened units with the turn signals, plus an LED string that serves as a daytime running light. The whole is encased in a piece of gray plastic that forms one whole with the wheel arch extension, which creates a very special picture.
With the renewed Kona, almost everything is different at the front, but that idiosyncratic edge remains present. The headlights are now fitted with LED technology and optically lean against the wheel arch extensions. They are still accompanied by a set of ‘eyebrows’, which are now also completely made up of LEDs. However, the top units are somewhat smaller than before. This makes room for a new grille, which is a lot wider, but also less high than before. The entire car therefore looks a bit wider.
The red Kona in the opening photo shows another novelty, because this is the new N-Line version. It has different bumpers, larger air intakes and three ‘inlet slots’ between the grille and hood. At the rear we find newly arranged rear lights. The lower light units are even given a different shape here and of course also assigned a lot of LEDs.
The facelift that shines here only applies to the Kona with a combustion engine. The electric variant, which is very popular in the Netherlands, has its own front, with more injection-molded elements and without a visible grille. The renewed version of that car and the Kona Hybrid will not be seen until 2021.