Hyundai is preparing to launch a performance-focused version of its popular Kona crossover under its relatively new N sub-brand—all the while Chevrolet still has no performance crossover to offer its buyers.
A prototype for the Hyundai Kona N was recently spotted testing at the Nurburgring with larger alloy wheels, more robust performance brakes with red N brake calipers and a dual exhaust. The crossover will likely be powered by the automaker’s T-GDi turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which makes 275 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque in the Performance Package-equipped Veloster N hatchback. The Veloster N is also offered with a six-speed manual transmission, though we expect the production Kona N to feature an automatic transmission of some sort.
It’s not clear if the production Kona N will offer standard all-wheel drive, or if it will be front-wheel drive like the Veloster N. Rumors also point to the crossover obtaining the multi-link rear suspension that’s included in AWD models, as opposed to the FWD’s torsion beam setup. The prototype that was spotted in Germany still looked as though it was quite early in its development, so Hyundai probably won’t launch the vehicle for another couple of years at the earliest.
As of this writing, Chevrolet has no true performance crossover on offer. The Kona is a direct competitor to the Chevrolet Trax, while the Kona Electric serves as a rival to the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Considering the current popularity of compact crossovers (and crossovers of all types, to be frank), we think General Motors would be smart to offer some kind of performance crossover under the Chevy brand—whether it be gasoline powered or electric.
Chevrolet Bolt EUV prototype
While we do think GM should prepare a Kona N rival of some sort, it doesn’t seem likely we’ll be receiving such a product anytime soon. If the automaker is preparing one, however unlikely that may be, it would possibly be based on the next-generation Chevrolet Trax, which isn’t expected to arrive until 2021 or after. If GM goes the electric route, the company would be smart to base it on the upcoming Bolt EUV—which will have more of a traditional crossover body style than the Bolt EV and will thus be a better rival to the Kona Electric. We doubt such a model variant would be available from launch, either.
Let us know what you think of the idea of a compact Chevrolet performance crossover in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more GM competition news, Chevrolet Trax news, Chevrolet Bolt EV news and Chevrolet Bolt EUV news.
Comments
Active Hyudai/Kia/Genesis is big proflem for lazy GM nowadays. They make a lot of original and ellegant models with a good value/price. GM is opposite now because they trying to get a lot of money for cheap solution (from Chevy to Caddy, ugly design, cheap interiors = focus groups instant soup, zero Hybrids, one ugly EV). Which metod wins?
GM better act quickly. Before this Hyundai ends up as dead as the Hyundai: Amanti, Equus, Bolero, Tiburon, Entourage, Genesis sports coupe,
Besides if GM kills Hyundai who will the rental fleets buy vehicles from?
let me know when they’ve declared bankruptcy. you don’t have enough fingers and toes to count all of the gm brands/models that have died.
Steve
But GM has had successes at all price levels.
Hyundai sells low end crap, and it needs to put a 10 year 100,000 warranty on that low end crap to get it to sell.
You obviously haven’t been keeping up and are stuck with the “Hyundai and Kia are cheap” mentality from 15+ years ago. They have long since moved on and have been building class-leading products for some time. Compare features and luxury content of a Telluride or Palisade, fully loaded at $46k, and ask Chevy how they can justify the $54k price tag of a Traverse High Country.
GM keeps building products that are significantly overpriced and to add insult to injury, offer less luxury and content than their much less expensive competitors. Bring on the 20% off MSRP sales and all will be well 😉
I’d love to see GM performance versions of mainstreamers like back in 09′ but is it really adding to GM’s bottom line?, GM still went BK with many performance mainstreamers. A few knuckle-heads will wrap-themselfs around a light pole in Korea’s new mess and that’s it.
This is the truth as performance models are not profit center in most cases. Many of these models have to be sold globally in small numbers in many markets to get enough production to make back the ROI.
These days special performance models are selling in very low numbers and if they are sold at higher prices there is no money in them.
GM had a number of great models in 08 sold under the GM Performance line but yet most sold in very low numbers.
I know how well those models were done as 8 drove most of them and owned several.
The other problem is if they charge enough to make good money then people complain about the price. We never got the TT V6 Regal from a Europe because it was nearly $70k dollars. Ford has held up the Raptor as based on the Australian price it would be $70k.
You complain now about the Blazer RS at $50K what would you say if they match the Ford Explorer performance model at $64 k?
The performance market is soft right now as peop,e like you and me gear heads are a minority of the market. We no longer command a large segment any longer. Also cheap performance has vanished as there are few cheap ways to convert today’s platforms to real performance models. FWD sucks good AWD cost money.
You are not going to drop a 6.2 V8 into a transverse fwd based Blazer as it would never work since it was never designed for that kind of engine.
The way I do see around this is with the new Turbo 4 like in the Blazer. Offer tune kits dealer installed. Pump the HP to 320 hp and 350 torque on premium fuel.
I had a similar kit on my HHRSS and it was a blast to drive and reliable still covered by a warranty. This would cover the small market in need of more performance. It would do it for less than $700 at the owners choice.
My SS would run 13’s in the quarter if you could keep the tires from spinning. The top speed was +160 if you were dumb enough to try it. I ran door to door with a Mustang and freaked the owner out because he could not pull away. He was shocked.
Trust me I make my living in the performance aftermarket and I am concerned with the decline in performance. The youth are just just not taking as big of an interest as a whole as past gens. You go to many car shows and they are all 50 and older.
There are some cult vehicles like a WRX but most performance bmodels do not enjoy the same following.
I wish Gm offered more but I also understand why they don’t run down that rabbit hole. Today it is about not making money but making the greatest return on investment.
Toyota got to be the biggest by selling boring average vehicles not sports cars.
Remember,
Toyota got to be the biggest by customer support !!!!
Had nothing to do with the boring vehicles sold.
And if you look at all the Teslas sold, they are performance vehicles !
And look at the other brands of performance mid sized vehicles !!
Look, there are a lot, just not at the old boomer car shows !!
Young people still want performance, just not the over the top look of performance, just the performance part of the performance.
I think you’re confusing CAFE sales limits with limited consumer interest. All of the unsold Cadillac ATSs I’ve seen in dealer lots are 2.0L engined cars – not the ATS-V or 3.6L models. GM makes more money selling trucks than cars but needs the fuel efficient cars as “compliance vehicles”.
Scott at it again with his magical Acadia with exceptional handling. Maybe he got some special edition Acadia with hypercar handling setup. lol
David as it shows you have never driven either vehicle or pushed the limits of either. I wonder if you even know what a SSEI is let alone driven one.
My comparison is compared to the SSEI sedan. That was a Pontiac if you did not know. So you consider that a Hyper car you really need to get an education?
FOAD!
I never mentioned about SSEI garbage van. I have owned E46, E90 M3, and 997 carrera s. I would never own FWD pos car in my life. Besides, I’m talking about your claims about Acadia. Learn how to read, Scott3 😉
My claims have been about an AWD with 5 link rear suspension and active suspension thst is much better than you know because you never driven one.
It is comparable to a touring sedan as I have stated not a hyper car as you state. You may want to read all the words.
I don’t really care what you have have owned as it is probably a lie and irrelevant anyways.
Trolls are just that trolls, David your are just another useless troll lol!
General Motors 2019 Chevrolet Blazer AWD RS can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds and runs the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds at 95.5 mph; if the Blazer was equipped with the EcoTec L86 6.2L V8 that makes 420 hp, one could expect 0-60 times being at least a second faster and better quarter mile time/speed.
“if the Blazer was equipped with the EcoTec L86 6.2L V8 that makes 420 hp,”
What, is it time for this comment again? What is it with you and wanting to stuff a big V8 sideways in a FWD CUV?
And a Kona LTD AWD (less than $30k), will do 0-60 in 6.6 sec, and a 15.1 sec 1/4 mile.
How much was that Blazer???
Omg,
Are you stating this in support of GM? In dreamland IF, they offered this power train setup how much do you think it would add to the already $40k pricetag?
Hyundai/Kia has been eating GM’s lunch for the last 15 years before they realized it.
No wonder GM is getting out of the sedan business almost as fast as Ford.
I’m currently a Cadillac and Buick owner. I’m seriously contemplating saying goodbye to GM because of the lack of performance SUVs. By performance I mean the crossover SUV that has an “uplevel” engine above what they considered to be their uplevel engine.
Of course having a more powerful engine also comes with needing bigger brakes and and improved suspension.
GM’s management has essentially neutered GM’s product development and left it with lackluster and boring choices.
How about some competition for the Porsche Macan?
Open your eyes GM because the end is near.
FYI Hyundai has beaten GM not by performance vehicles they have beaten GM, Toyota and Honda with low priced on average Sedans and CUV models nothing more.
People want affordable because they just can’t afford to pay more. This is why GM has tried to cut cost to increase profit ps and not just raise prices more than they have.
Hyundai is like Walmart. They may not sell the best but they have the lowest price and even people that hate them still buy from them.
In today’s market price is king.
i think what you said was true a few years ago.
today, hyundai/kia is still a value brand but their design/tech can’t be dismissed. if you are unknown and trying to break into a market, you will have to compete on price and they’ve done that.
but they’ve hired a lot of designers who worked for the german luxury brands. car and driver just did a comparison between the bmw3 and genesis g70. bmw won that comparison but to sum up the article, it isn’t worth the extra $15K.
i would say at this point, chevrolet(excluding the corvette) is more like walmart, hyundai/kia is more like target, and honda/toyota are costco.
It is still price.
They have a line of vehicles that look acceptable and they are very affordable. They are not the fastest, not the best handling, not even the best quality but at the price they are it is a good balance and people will go for price every time.
I have friends that own Hyundais and each bought due to price and value. They all have had warranty issues and some problems but are forgiving due to price.
One buddy works at a Hyundai dealer and even with the discount he is offered he drives a Chevy. He said while his Chevy is not perfect he has had better luck with them than he sees daily in the service department.
For sure Hyundai is better than they were but they are built to a price point.
GM is some what similar to a point but they do have a little better long term cost but you have to pay more due to higher labor cost.
Did you forget about vehicles such as the equinox 2.0t? Thats a performance cuv in every sense. A super engine, dual exhaust, upgraded brakes, great driving dynamics, awd, etc.
The bolt ev has great driving dynamics and performance.
Blazer RS with the V6?
Come on. To say chevy has “no performance suv” is a bit of an exaggeration.
I’ll take my “crappy” 2018 AWD 1.6Turbo Hyundai Kona Limited any day over GM and many other top car makers. Leather seats, 33.5 mpg, all I’ll ever want or need. Check out the awards people – they’re not because of low price. Eat my dust and smell the cash savings! ?
To be honest it is not really a performance vehicle but you are correct they do have very good chassis dynamics. Even my Acadia with the electronic suspension handles and rides better than my old SSEI did.
GM took the folks from the GM Performance division and integrated them into the platform programs from the start vs just giving them a vehicle to fix. I has given them much better driving vehicles even without a performance badge.
Just take the Colorado vs the Ranger or Taco as it will drive and ride circles round the other two.
As for power most cars have 300 HP or close to it anymore when 30 years ago they were using 90 HP Iron Dukes.
Now with the exhaust most are just duel outlets and single to the back. They most times are not as efficient as a single exhaust with many of these engines and can cost 5-10 HP. But they do sound better and look more balanced.
One thing we do also need to remember is most of the SUV and CUV models are more top heavy so there are limits to handling. I have seen it where some just hit a curb and flip. I am surprised more has not been said about it but flips are much more common than you think with these vehicles. I figured some government regulator will make a big deal over it.
But Brian you are correct in saying that the better engines and suspensions on these SUV models are pretty good at what they do. They may lack a badge but they will out run many cars from just a few years ago.
well, i’m sure the same was said about the japanese when they first came on the scene.
if you put any weight in jd power reliability rankings, the two koreans are in the top 10 so the inferior quality argument doesn’t hold.
i wouldn’t look down on a manufacturer using price at its selling point. gm is doing that with the c8.
Not looking down just envious of their low labor cost that permit them to sell at a lower selling price.
Never said they were total crap but they are not perfect cars. They are good for what you pay.
I take JD power and Consumer Reports with a grain of salt. They are great if the are positive for sales but not always accurate. Like Amazon ratings you toss out the top and bottom ratings and the truth lies in the middle.
I deal with customer surveys at work and often know many are like web forums where happy people never complain but unhappy people post. Also some of these surveys are skewed in various ways.
Not saying what Hyundai is doing is bad but they are still not a perfect car. The bottom line why they sell well is price with average quality.
As one co worker said when he bought his. I can get a new car for the price of a used car. He sold it and bought a used Chevy after a couple years of issues. In fact two did so in years and less.
To be fair all cars have some kind of issue. Some greater than others.
My co workers new Hyundai already has had a radio go out and the plastic pan on the bottom came loose and folded under the car when driving. Not the end of the world but no better than most others. Another with a Santa Fe had to have the carpet and rear seat replaced do to material issues. It lasted 2 years and he now has a new Tahoe.
Wow, I am the opposite of your buddy. I work at a GM dealership and bought a Hyundai because of all the warranty work coming through our service department.
Everyone has to pick their poison.
Average GM blah, enough said.
All GM midsized vehicles.
Average GM blah vehicles.
Why you here?. and don’t use the worn “tough love” garbage, go to another manufacturer if one fills your need. I’d gone with Ford whenever GM didn’t have what I need during trade-in time…
At least there exclamation marks are fewer.
GM is basically preparing to survive the next recession… which probably isn’t too far down the road. That means only profitable, high volume, mainstream products. That sucks for enthusiasts but probably good for the near term health of the company. I agree that GM now has many holes in its portfolio but I think that’s inevitable given the challenges of transitioning to EVs and a slowing auto economy.
I think it’s sad that the only performance SUV from GM is a $50K Blazer. Hopefully the Korean Trailblazer can come out with an RS package with a reved up turbo 4 for under 35 grand. GM needs to stop ignoring the younger small car buyer that becomes the future SUV buyer. The small CUV market is getting taken over by Kia, Honda, etc. That’s why Trax and Encore sales are dropping.
Here is my issue. GM, like others today, don’t have true performance vehicles. What they have are over-priced upper trim levels that offer only aesthetics and tech, but the same engine/brake/suspension as the rest of the lineup. Pay more but only get some basic exterior design differences.
GM is only focused on delivering the Minimum Viable Product.
I get great value by purchasing vehicles that:
* I can drive 10+ years
* I can drive 200k miles
* It doesn’t randomly break down
* It gets good gas mileage
* It only needs basic / expected maintenance
* I still enjoy driving it after 200k miles
That is Not a GM sedan or SUV.
Sorry to you must have gotten a bad one. I am driving a 2003 Tahoe with approximately 400,000 miles and it is still doing quite well. Very few problems over the years – only 1 water pump and 1 set of brakes! 1 fuel pump. And most of those small issues were well after the 200,000 mile mark. I am confident that I can put many more miles and keep going for several more years at the rate of about 25,000 miles a year.
I am pissed that GM is getting out of the “car” business. I was looking at getting a new Impala with the V-6 as I do not want a turbo engine. I don;t think they will last nearly as long as the naturally aspirated engines.
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