Hyundai unveils the all-new BAYON, a stylish and sleek model in a crossover SUV body type
The Korean manufacturer is launching this model dedicated to Europe and which, unlike the Kona, Hyundai’s other small SUV, will only be offered with a petrol engine. A model name to pronounce like the city of the French Basque country.
This is the fashionable segment in Europe: the urban SUV. Faced with the excessive competition with French heavyweights like the Peugeot 2008 or the Renault Captur, Hyundai is strengthening its offer this Tuesday with the Bayon, to be pronounced like the French city. Its surname comes from Bayonne (Pyrennées-Atlantique), because, as the Korean manufacturer explains, it was designed for the European market and the manufacturer, therefore, wanted to give it the name of a town in the Old Continent.
Format close to Kona but different positioning
This small model of 4.18 meters enters the range next to the Kona (4.20 meters long), another small SUV marketed by Hyundai since 2017. But if it has the same size, the Bayon should not target the same audience as the Kona according to Hyundai.
The Bayon is meant to be simpler. Unlike the Kona, it will not have electric or conventional hybrid powertrains, only a 48V light hybrid (the union minimum in electrification).
No four-wheel drive either, or an “N Line” version, Hyundai’s sporting claw, as the specialist site Caradisiac explains. This model is also more adventurous in its look than the Kona. A small SUV that is positioned more like a crossover version of the i20 with which it shares a number of elements. The engines are thus common with the city car, including the 1-liter three-cylinder engine.
As SUVs have grown in popularity around the world, Hyundai has realized that there is a certain demand for a model capable of traveling through European cities while providing sufficient space to meet customer expectations, ”explains in the press release from manufacturer Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Vice President Marketing and Product at Hyundai Motor Europe.
Equipment and accessories are unlimited
Hyundai does not yet detail the prices of the Bayon, but its price list should logically be lower than that of the Kona. The Korean brand, however, intends to offer much equipment, especially in terms of connectivity with among others a 10.25-inch screen (or an 8-inch “Display Audio” system), two USB ports for the front occupants, and a USB port for the rear passengers, a Bose audio system and Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity.
