Last batch of Hyundai Kona N performance SUVs now in Australia
The final batch of Hyundai Kona N small performance SUVs have arrived in Australia before the nameplate is relegated to the history books – with no successor on the horizon.
There are fewer than new 30 examples of the Hyundai Kona N – the high-riding version of the Hyundai i30 N hot hatch – left in Australia as the model was axed locally after just two years.
Hyundai Australia says the final batch of vehicles has arrived in local showrooms, and – at the time of publishing – there are just 26 new examples left without a customer's name allocated, located in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
As previously reported by Drive, production of the Hyundai Kona N has ceased two years after it was introduced as the higher-riding, bigger twin to the Hyundai i30 N hot hatch that remains in showrooms.
Hyundai head office in South Korea has not confirmed plans for a new Kona N – based on the new-generation Kona range in showrooms now – and plans to build a high-performance version "will be considered later".
However Drive understands a new N flagship is not planned in any form, and that the largest turbocharged engine the new Hyundai Kona has been engineered to support is a 1.6-litre four-cylinder in the 146kW/265Nm N Line version.
There has been speculation about an electric Kona N, but Hyundai N executives have said the 400-volt electric technology and battery inside the new Kona Electric is not capable of supporting the race-track use a Hyundai N performance car is expected to be capable of.
The 2.0-litre turbo engine in the outgoing Kona N – shared with the i30 N hatch and sedan – is more than a decade old, and is not expected to meet new European emissions standards due in 2026.
A quarter of Hyundai Kona N sales are in Europe – and very few markets outside of Europe and Australia sell the i30 N hatch, which is based on a car introduced in 2016, and is due for a second, albeit mild facelift late this year or early next year.
Hyundai Australia has reported 643 Kona Ns as sold so far this year – representing 10 per cent of the Kona model mix – and 1506 since it launched in Australia in late 2021.
For comparison, so far this year 1043 i30 N hatchbacks, 1295 i30 Sedan Ns, and 455 i20 Ns have been reported as sold in Australia.
"Right now, Hyundai Europe is in EV [electric vehicle] heaven," Albert Biermann – former boss of Hyundai N turned Hyundai executive technical advisor – told Australian media in December 2022, when asked about a new Kona N.
“Having Kona EV, Ioniq 5 EV, they are so happy selling those EVs and they're not really fighting to get a Kona with a combustion [petrol] engine, to continue into a next-generation [Kona N].
“It could have been possible until Euro 7 [emissions rules] starts. There could be a stretch of four years or so on a next-generation [Kona N] with a combustion engine, but the EV heaven is just too charming and too enjoyable right now to our salespeople. So they are really not fighting for it.”