Hyundai Venue compact SUV images surface before official debut

Aditya Chatterjee Updated: April 18, 2019, 03:48 PM IST

Hyundai is gearing up to launch its first compact SUV, the Venue in India and also in international markets. While the India unveiling is scheduled to take place on April 17, it will also be shown at the 2019 New York International Auto Show. However, the Korean car manufacturer has released its images on a digital hoarding at the Times Square in New York, USA, captured by Ed Kim. Hyundai India has already been testing the SUV as various camouflaged images of that have surfaced online. The Hyundai Venue will rival the likes of Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Ford EcoSport along with the Tata Nexon and the Mahindra XUV300.

The Hyundai Venue will sport Hyundai's Blue Link connectivity suite which boasts of 33 features, out of which 10 have been designed specifically for India. The features will cover the safety, convenience and other vehicle management information. This system makes use of a tamper-proof device that is connected to the cloud using an inbuilt eSIM and works with the Vodafone network in India. We hear that the Hyundai Venue will be offered with a two-year standard subscription to Blue Link, post which, the car owners can choose to renew the subscription at an annual fee.

As a build-up before the official launch, Hyundai India has released a few design sketches of the upcoming compact SUV. The sketches show the basic form of the car and as these things usually do, highlight its various design elements. The Venue's various design elements like the large honeycomb grille, the split headlamps, and the slightly stocky, short wheelbase look have been highlighted. The production-spec car will probably not have too many cuts and creases but this sketch comes with loads of those to highlight the few surfaces and character lines that may stand out in the Venue.

In terms of powertrain options, the compact SUV will get a wide selection of engine and gear combination. The SUV will possibly get two petrol and one diesel engine that will be mated to two manual and one dual-clutch automatic in various permutations. One of the petrols is the new T-GDI 1.0-litre turbo. This three-cylinder motor is expected to be available in its higher output iteration, which makes 120PS and 172Nm. This motor already does duty in cars like the i20 and Kona internationally and is now set for an India debut. This is expected to be paired with two gearboxes, a new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and a six-speed manual.

The other petrol motor, for lower-spec cars, will be the 1.2 litre petrol as seen on various Hyundai cars in India. The four cylinder motor is available on cars like the Grand i10 and India-spec Elite i20 and makes 83PS and 116Nm. Only a five-speed manual gearbox is expected with this. The single diesel option could be the 1.4-litre four cylinder turbo petrol motor which puts out 90PS and 220Nm. This motor is already available on the Verna and Creta, and like in those cars will be available with a six-speed manual. No auto option is expected, possibly to keep costs in check.