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Final 26 Hyundai Kona N units arrive in Australia, production ends (video)

The Kona N turbo is coming to an end, only hope is an EV return

Production of the Hyundai Kona N is coming to an end and the last run of production destined for Australia has just arrived. This will be the last opportunity for customers to buy the fast, fun and exclusive performance SUV, new.

The Kona N was launched just a couple of years ago, in 2021. And although it hasn’t been as popular as Hyundai’s other N models, such as the i30 N, it remains a very unique proposition.

So far this year (through August), Hyundai Australia has delivered 643 Kona N units to customers (out of 6260 Kona models overall, according to August VFACTS). That’s against 1077 i30 N hatchbacks and 1295 i30 N sedans in the same timeframe.

Keeping in mind the order books for the i30 N hatch are currently on pause until further notice. It’s a similar story with the i20 N junior, which has posted 455 sales so far this year.

One of the interesting things about the Kona N is that there are currently no direct rivals in Australia, considering the Kona in general officially sits in the ‘small below $45,000’ class – even though the Kona N is priced higher than that. It mixes the thrill and excitement of the i30 N hatchback but is packaged up in a fashionable SUV body style.

It has the potential to be a very popular model. According to VFACTS figures, the small SUV class in question represents a 13.6 per cent share of the total market, with 96,037 sales in the specific class so far this year. And that figure is up a whopping 22.7 per cent on the same period last year.

The new-generation Kona was launched a couple of months ago but the flagship model is the N Line featuring a 1.6-litre turbo with all-wheel drive. It is not available as a full N model.

Hyundai Australia confirmed with Driving Enthusiast that the last bunch of Kona N models to arrive in the country have landed, with 26 units up for grabs. These are located in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia. Once these are gone, that’s it. No more Kona N. Not in its current generation anyway.

Hyundai has been relatively tight-lipped about a future return of the performance model (speculative rendering above), however, if there is going to be a new model down the track it will be a fully electric model. Like many carmakers at the moment, plans for future petrol-powered vehicles is limited. Officially, Hyundai says:

“Production of an all-new, high-performance Kona N will be considered later. The company has presented its high-performance electrification vision through RN22e and N Vision 74.”

In other words, the focus is on electrification and not creating new performance petrol SUVs. If you’re considering a Kona N, you better get in quick as the last 26 are likely to sell fast.

Brett Davis

Brett started out as a motor mechanic but eventually became frustrated working on cars that weren't his. He then earned a degree in journalism and scored a job at Top Gear Australia back in 2008, and then worked at Zoom/Extreme Performance magazines, CarAdvice, and started PerformanceDrive/PDriveTV in 2011 with Josh Bennis, and ran it for 12 years. He's now the owner and managing editor here at Driving Enthusiast.

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