Hyundai Kona, VW T-Roc Subcompact SUVs Teased

CARS.COM — The hot-selling field of small SUVs will get even more crowded in the next couple of model years with new entries from Hyundai and Volkswagen.

Both automakers have released new teasers for their coming SUVs that are expected to come to the U.S., where both have been late to the party and need additional offerings for SUV-hungry buyers in the U.S., Europe and China.

Related: Toyota FT-4X Concept Preview

Hyundai released a second teaser photo of the coming Kona subcompact SUV that could rival the likes of the Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3, Chevrolet Trax and Jeep Renegade. A photo in early April showed the daytime running lights and hood sculpting. The latest photo shows the front end, revealing a signature Hyundai hexagonal grille and an unusual lighting arrangement, with the LED daytime running lights and amber turn signals in a pod on the corners and separated headlights, which Hyundai says also are LEDs, positioned lower, next to the grille. The up-and-down arrangement seems to echo that of the Jeep Cherokee.

The SUV is named for the Kona district on the Big Island of Hawaii and Hyundai says it will be a “lifestyle” SUV in the spirit of the adventure sports destination. It continues Hyundai’s naming of its global SUVs for places, including Tucson, Santa Fe, Creta and Veracruz. Hyundai said the Kona will have an official unveiling this summer. The automaker offered no more details for the vehicle and did not say when and where it will go on sale first.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, has posted a video (watch below) of its new small SUV inspired by the T-Roc concept unveiled in Geneva in 2014. While the vehicle in the video is camouflaged, it appears to be a more conventional vehicle than the flashy two-door T-Roc with its removable roof.

Spy photos of the prototype test vehicle without camo indicate that some of the lines of the concept have survived. Automotive News reported that it will come to the U.S. in 2019, though possibly renamed, citing comments by VW brand chief Herbert Diess in March and a source at the company.