Hyundai has given its Venue small SUV its first upgrade with a number of new and improved features across all three models in the range.
Very much a city-focused SUV/hatchback crossover, Venue has been in Australia since July, 2019 with steady sales keeping it around the middle of the highly competitive compact SUV market segment.
Externally there are no changes to Venue’s conservative and functional styling, apart from the previous shark fin external aerial that has been replaced by a pole-style aerial.
Leading the way in the upgrades is the Bluelink connected car system which is being progressively rolled out across the entire Hyundai range.
Standard on the Venue Elite, Bluelink introduces features such as Automatic Collision Notification, Natural Voice Control and segment-first remote vehicle control functionality via the Bluelink smartphone App.
Bluelink and the accompanying connected car services are provided free of charge across the five-year warranty period.
All Venue models also now come with a smartphone wireless charging for compatible Qi-standard devices.
The charging pad is located in a dedicated recess in the front centre console and also has a cooling fan to help prevent the device from overheating while charging.
A new 4.2-inch LCD instrument cluster display is now featured as standard across all 2023 Venue grades.
It includes a standard digital speedometer and tachometer and is customisable with three colour scheme selections through system settings.
In addition to the previous USB-A multimedia port the MY23 Venue range now also has a USB-C type charging port in the front centre console.
The Elite variant adds a pair of USB-C type charging ports for the rear seat passengers including a small storage compartment suitable for mobile phones.
Also new in all variants is Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) which detects the entry of occupants via the rear doors opening and closing.
When this happens, the system sends an audible warning chime and prompts the driver with a visual warning message to ‘check rear seats’.
All models now come with Hyundai’s latest revised steering wheel remote control button layout, improving ease-of-use.
The new “Custom” button (denoted by a star) allows the driver to program their desired function, ensuring that their most-used vehicle functions are just at their fingertips.
Elite also gets a new auto-dimming rear-view mirror (ECM) as standard.
Priced from $21,900, if you order your new Venue now it could take from three and six months to be delivered.
CHECKOUT: Hyundai Palisade: Aye, aye Cap’n
CHECKOUT: N Drive-N — Hyundai’s got your number