Hyundai Venue SUV officially unveiled in India: Launch & price announcement next month

Hyundai India has just unveiled the Venue sub-4 meter compact SUV – a direct Maruti Brezza rival. The Hyundai Venue compact SUV will be launched in India next month, and prices will be announced on the day of launch. The Venue looks like a baby Creta from the side but has totally different styling at the front and rear. The front has an imposing waterfall grille and the headlamps are high-set projector unit. The bumper also has projector fog lamps and DRL LED surrounds. At the rear, tail lamps of the Venue are distinctly styled.

The SUV’s interiors also new design, which is quite different from that on the Creta. The Hyundai Venue’s dashboard  is dominated by a touchscreen infotainment unit – which is high set. The steering gets audio and phone controls while there is a fast charging outlet in the center console.

The Hyundai Venue will get a slew of creature comforts and safety features such as an electric sunroof, cruise control, air purifier, wireless charging, voice recognition,  Arkamys stereo, rear AC vents, cornering lamps, ABS, 6 airbags, vehicle stablity control, hill hold and ISOFIX child seat mounts.

The Hyundai Venue will also be India’s first connected SUV. It’ll use Hyundai’s BlueLink technology, which will offer  features such as a remote start, remote operation of headlamps, air conditioning, windows and horn, emergency assist, real time traffic alert, remote car immobilizer in case of theft, car tracker, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.  Hyundai will offer a 3 year warranty and a 3 year road side assistance service as standard with the Venue. The SUV  measures a little under 4 meters in length, at 3,995 mm. Width and height stand at 1,770 mm and 1,590 mm while the wheelbase measure 2,500 mm.

As for mechanicals, Hyundai will offer a brand new turbocharged petrol engine on the Venue. The motor has been developed in-house, and is a 1 liter-3 cylinder turbocharged unit with 120 PS of peak power and 175 Nm of peak  torque. Two gearboxes will accompany this engine – a 6 speed manual and a 7 speed twin clutch automatic.

The 7 speed DCT unit is a segment leading feature. The other engines and gearboxes on the Hyundai Venue are units borrowed from the i20 Elite – a 1.2 liter petrol wit 82 PS-114 Nm and a 5 speed manual gearbox, and a 1.4 liter turbocharged diesel with 90 PS-220 Nm and a 6 speed manual gearbox. All engines will drive the front wheels of the SUV.

Hyundai has stuck to the engine requirements for excise duty cuts in the sub-4 meter class. This is an indication of  a sharp price tag for the Venue. Expect prices to start from Rs. 7.5 lakhs, making the Venue over 2 lakh rupees  cheaper than the Creta, which starts from Rs. 9.6 lakhs. The top-end variant of the Hyundai Venue is likely to have a price overlap with the Creta though, with a price tag of about Rs. 11 lakhs for the top-end diesel/petrol-automatic.