First launched in 2019, the Hyundai Venue has been an impactful product. Its bold stance, tech and convenience amenities, a remarkable evolution over the years, and increased safety prowess have been some of the key highlights for its exponential growth. In its latest avatar is certainly the most advanced and diversified in terms of variants and features on offer. Essentially, a potential buyer with any kind of requirements can find a suitable trim. That ensures enhanced accessibility for a wide range of customers, making it an ideal first car for just about anyone. Here, I have streamlined the top 5 reasons why the Hyundai Venue should be the ideal choice as a first car.
5 Reasons Why Hyundai Venue is Excellent First Car
New-age Styling
A car’s aesthetics always play a vital role in leaving the first impression on everyone. Taking cognizance of that, Hyundai has equipped the latest Venue with plenty of attractive and striking elements including bold, chrome-loaded colossal grille which defines the demeanour of the compact SUV. Also, the LED DRLs are positioned on the extreme edges of the bonnet with the main LED headlamp clusters and positioning lamps encapsulated in a rectangular module on the sides of the grille. Down below, the sporty bumper and a sturdy skid plate accentuate its sportiness. The upright stance carries on to the sides with prominent wheel arches finished in matte black claddings swallowing the sporty 16-inch diamond cut, dual-tone alloy wheels.
For me, the handy and functional roof rails confirm the practicality and utilitarian aspects of the SUV. At the rear, there is a shark fin antenna, a roof-mounted spoiler, a connected LED taillamp cluster, a sporty bumper with horizontal inserts and a sturdy bumper. Interestingly, Hyundai even offers the Venue in two special edition trims – Adventure and Knight. While the former appeals to those with an adventurous streak, the latter attracts the style-conscious with its decidedly bold, all-black theme. The bespoke treatment is even carried to the interior, thereby providing an all-round special experience.
Multiple Engine Options
Another key aspect which makes the Venue perfect as the first car is the availability of multiple powertrain alternatives. This includes a Kappa 1.2-litre 4-cylinder naturally aspirated MPi petrol, a U2 1.5-litre- 4-cylinder turbo diesel VGT and a peppy Kappa 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbo GDi petrol engine. These produce 83 PS (61 kW) / 113.8 Nm, 116 (85 kW) PS / 250 Nm and 120 PS (88.3 kW) / 172 Nm of maximum power and torque, respectively.
Apart from that, the turbo-petrol mill can even be bought with an excellent 7-speed DCT. Furthermore, driving enthusiasts can even opt for the N-Line model which is available with the turbo petrol mill along with a few mechanical tweaks to offer an engaging driving experience. Regardless of which mill you choose, the Venue offers great high-speed stability and impressive ride quality around the corners, as well as on rough patches of the road. With multiple drive modes – Normal, Eco and Sport – you can prepare the vehicle to tackle all sorts of road conditions with appropriate settings. That makes it one of the best-driving SUVs in this space.
Connectivity Options
It has become a trend with modern customers, who want to use their smartphone applications even while on the go. Hence, connectivity is at the core of electrical architecture in this digital era. Recognizing that, Hyundai offers its Bluelink connected car tech amenities with over 60 functionalities to take care of every aspect of connectivity. Not only that, the Korean automaker goes one step ahead and offers Alexa Home2Car connectivity with the help of which the owners will be able to operate various in-cabin functions of the car from their homes. This includes things like setting the AC temperature to your comfort so that you get ambient settings as soon as you enter the car. The other prominent facet of this section is the Over-the-Air updates where a software update can fix a lot of issues. Finally, you can connect your smartphone to the car’s infotainment wirelessly via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Segment-Best Features
Hyundai has always been a player who constantly pushes the boundaries by setting new benchmarks in terms of the latest features and functionalities. In fact, Hyundai cars are often the most well-equipped in their respective segments. We have seen this in the past and this trend continues even today. Leveraging that approach, even the Venue offers all sorts of segment-best and segment-first goodies to pamper the customers. Some of these include:
- Home-to-Car (H2C) with Alexa – Controlling in-car functions from the comfort of your home. This is becoming a norm these days and people are able to control the cabin temperature and other settings according to their preferences without the need to be present in the car.
- Ambient Sounds of Nature – There are various settings to choose from – Calm Sea Waves, Lively Forest, Open-Air Cafe, Rainy Day, Snowy Village and Warm Fireplace. All these are catered to the driver to remain in a great state of mind irrespective of the chaos outside. Having a great mental mood is crucial while driving to tackle the unpredictable Indian roads.
- 60+ Bluelink Connected Features – Hyundai offers over 60 distinct connected features to make your lives easier. New-age customers want all of their apps and car controls on their smartphones. Bluelink is that connection between the car’s interface and your devices and voice commands.
- 10 Regional Languages – This is particularly impressive which makes the compact SUV a hit across the nation. We know that India is a diverse land with dozens of languages. To break the language barrier, Hyundai offers support in 10 regional languages for voice commands so that people can feel comfortable in their native language to control various functions. In total, there are 12 languages supported by the system.
- Dashcam with Dual Camera – We all know the importance of having a dashcam in a car in today’s world. We keep coming across shocking incidents on our roads on a daily basis. It is advisable to have a dashcam to record everything that is going on around your car. In fact, there have been innumerable instances where the dashcam footage has made things clear which would otherwise have been nigh impossible to conclude. I believe this feature should be common in every car.
- Sunroof – Indians are obsessed with electric sunroofs for some reason. Perhaps it is because this feature has traditionally been associated with high-end premium luxury cars. But brands like Hyundai have democratized these amenities and made them available to the masses. What is especially noteworthy is the fact that buyers don’t necessarily have to go for the top trims to avail of this function. In fact, Hyundai offers the sunroof in the Venue starting from the second-from-base E+ variant which has a retail sticker of just Rs 8.23 lakh, ex-showroom.
- ADAS – Active safety features are gaining popularity among modern car buyers. Venus was the first product in the compact SUV category in India to offer Level 1 ADAS. We will discuss more details about this aspect in the next section.
Safer Than Rivals
Finally, Indian customers have become increasingly conscious about the safety equipment of cars in the last few years. They take into consideration safety ratings and safety equipment on offer before making a purchase decision. Note that Hyundai is the only carmaker in the country to offer 6 airbags as standard across the entire range of its portfolio. Therefore, regardless of which Hyundai car you purchase, you will get 6 airbags even in the base trims. That is commendable and depicts the brand’s commitment to making safe cars. The Hyundai Venue is great for all those consumers who want the topmost active and passive safety kit in their vehicles. The main highlights in this category incorporate the following:
- 6 Airbags
- ABS with EBD
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
- Brake Assist System (BAS)
- Vehicle Stability Management (VSM)
- Hill Assist Control (HAC)
- Rear Parking Sensors
- Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines
- Electrochromic IRVM
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (Highline)
- Seatbelt Reminder for All Seats
- 3-point Seatbelts for All Seats
- ISOFIX Child Seat Mounts
- Burglar Alarm
- Hyundai SmartSense with Level 1 ADAS Features like:
– Forward Collision Warning
– Forward Collision Avoidance Assist for Car, Pedestrian and Cyclist
– Lane Keep Assist
– Lane Departure Warning
– Driver Attention Warning
– Lane Following Assist
– High Beam Assist
– Leading Vehicle Departure Alert
All these factors contribute toward making the Hyundai Venue a perfect first car for buyers with all kinds of needs. The Korean auto giant takes care of the tech, comfort, convenience, safety and performance aspects of the SUV. All this has been reflected in its impressive monthly sales for many years now. Going forward, I am certain that people will find value and flexibility in the lineup of the Hyundai Venue and be attracted by its value-for-money proposition.
