Hyundai Kona EV to be rebirthed in 2027! Popular compact SUV will also continue as hybrid and ICE
Hyundai is rushing the third generation ‘SX3’ Kona compact SUV to production in 2027 with an EV confirmed as an ongoing part of the powertrain line-up.
The current ‘SX2’ Kona has been on-sale since 2023 as an ICE and petrol-electric hybrid and only since 2024 as an EV.
As the NVES CO2 reduction scheme starts to bite and it tried to rectify its own stumbling start to the EV age, Hyundai Australia has recently moved to re-price the battery electric Kona and make it more attractive.
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Now it has less than two years to wait before its biggest selling model is replaced – judging by the spy photos on the net – by a boxier and larger new model (pic top courtesy Shorts Car).
But one thing that won’t change is the broad powertrain spread that’s helped Kona’s success, with both ICE and hybrid continuing alongside BEV.
“If the strategy is a successful one and the ability is to be there, we would try to continue,” Hyundai Australia COO Gavin Donaldson told EV Central, all but confirming the make-up of the next-gen Kona’s powertrain offering.
“The best thing about Kona, which … is really good for us. It comes in an ICE, a hybrid or an EV.
“It meets the business strategy of NVES all day long.”
One thing Donaldson stressed he wanted to change about the new Kona was its ANCAP star rating.
The current car scores four rather than five stars, which has proven a point of conflict with ANCAP.
More importantly for Hyundai, the four stars locked the Kona out of a share of fleet sales that insists on five ANCAP stars.
“For [2027] Kona for us would be we want to make sure it meets all the safety requirements,” said Donaldson.
“So if they meet the ANCAP requirements, that’s what we want to make sure of.
“I think five stars just gives you the best opportunity to ensure that you have the ability to sell across every channel in the Australian market,” he said.
“[Four stars] just limits your opportunity to sell in certain fleet markets when it’s all said and done. It could have done better [in fleet sales].”
The bigger picture is the short four-year timeline on the swap to a new-generation Kona and just why that is happening.
“I think the optimisations that we were considering for a mid-life cycle made more sense to just do as a full model change,” explained Hyundai Australia product development manager Tim Rodgers, who is already involved in advanced planning for the new model.
“That’s really what it comes down to. There’s an efficiency we find in investment by doing it that way.”
Rodgers conceded this strategy meant the current Kona will sit in market longer without an update.
However, he pointed to new model lines such as Kona Elite and the recent price repositioning as proof of ongoing attention and change.
“It’s got technology that’s still rolling out in some of our later models,” he said.
