Hyundai teases new Kona, confirms N-Line

HYUNDAI Motor Company (HMC) has given the world its first sneak peek at the upcoming Kona SUV and in turn, given us a few clues as to the styling of the long-rumoured but yet-to-be-confirmed Kona N.

Just three images have been released so far, all centred around the new Kona’s redesigned front end with one being a close up of the new N-Line.

Officially, HMC describes the new Kona’s new look as being wider with a “shark-inspired nose” to up the sleekness factor while new daytime running lights “give it a high-tech, sophisticated style”.

Unlike some car designs which claim to be animal inspired, the shark theme of the Kona’s new front end is actually quite easy to spot with tooth-shaped flicks on the front bumper pointing up towards the new grille.

The new grille itself is thin and long, bridging the gap between two gill-like daytime running light clusters.

Above the grille is a sharp contour-line underlining a set of new thin headlights.

As for the N-Line, things have been stepped up in classic N fashion with thinner, more aggressive looking headlights, three horizontal intake slits between said lights and completely different front bumper.

Gone are the shark-tooth flicks and in their place, a lower bumper design reminiscent of the current BMW M5 in its angular, centrally located design, creating a designated lower intake and grille.

Not much else can be deduced from the images with no mention of powertrains or technology upgrades.

That said, the safe money would be on the N-Line scoring the same 150kW/265Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine as the i30 N-Line with gear-shifting duties most likely to come courtesy of the same seven-speed dual-clutch transmission as the related hatchback.

With the N-Line now confirmed, it should only be a matter of time before the long-rumoured, full-fat N Performance version breaks cover with camouflaged prototypes spotted lapping the Nurburgring in recent months along with the recently confirmed i20 N.