Hyundai Venue continues testing ahead of 17 April debut

-Will be the ‘first smart connected SUV’ claims Hyundai.

-To debut 33 connected features including 10 India specific ones

Hyundai will take the covers off the much-anticipated Venue on 17 April. Ahead of that, the Korean carmaker is busy running the SUV though its final testing. A test mule of the Venue was spotted in Chennai alongside the Hyundai Elite i20 and the older generation Maruti Suzuki Swift, giving us an idea about the size of the all-new sub-four metre SUV from Hyundai’s stable.

We have already seen how the new Venue will look like in our digital rendering and it essentially matched the real deal which was also spotted without camouflage a few days ago. The Venue will debut Hyundai’s ‘BlueLink Connected’ technology – we learned about this from both official revealings by the carmaker as well as a few design sketches – with around 33 new connected features. Amongst them, 10 are specific to India.

In terms of appearance, the Venue carries Hyundai’s characteristic cascading grille up-front flanked by new-gen Santa Fe-like headlights. Under the cladding, the Venue’s silhouette makes it look like a mini Creta. Taking design cues from the India-bound Kona, the two-tier headlamp units will get a sleek unit on top with LED DRLs and a larger unit on the bottom. Given that this is a crossover, there will be body cladding all around the vehicle along with roof rails.

At the rear, the perfectly square tail lights get LED lighting signature. Meanwhile, the tailgate is almost upright. Apart from that, the new stylish alloys seen in our rendering will be present and will match the overall looks of the new Venue. Inside the cabin, the Venue will definitely have all the bells and whistles expected from its segment and many segment-first features (the connected technology features for example).

Under the hood, the Venue will most likely have three engine options – a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol making around 100bhp and 172Nm, a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol, and a 1.4-litre four-cylinder diesel from the Verna. Transmission options would include either a five-speed or six-speed manual with the choice of an automatic, which could also be a DCT. However, it hasn't been confirmed yet.

When launched, the sub-four-metre SUV is expected to be priced around Rs 7.5 to 11 lakhs (ex-showroom). It will face stiff competition from Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300 and Tata Nexon.