2020 Hyundai Venue: Too Cool to Be a Hatchback

If, like us, you didn't think Hyundai had any more room in its lineup for an SUV, you'd be wrong. The diminutive 2020 Hyundai Venue will serve as the bookend for the small end of the brand's SUV lineup. That means it's smaller than the Kona, Kona Electric, Tucson, Nexo, Santa Fe, Santa Fe XL, and the Palisade. Resistance is futile, sedan shopper, you will be assimilated into the SUV collective. But what the 2020 Venue lacks in space it promises to make up for with style and affordability.

It Looks Tiny

Your eyes do not deceive you. It's a full 5 inches shorter than the Kona and rides on a 99.2-inch wheelbase, which is 3.2 inches shorter than the Kona's. To put that in a non-Hyundai perspective, it's roughly the same size as a Ford EcoSport.

The rear-seat room looks to be best suited for children or repurposed for carrying cargo. Even with the rear seats folded down, the Venue offers a scant 31.9 cubic feet of cargo space (the EcoSport offers 50 cubic feet of cargo capacity). There is some flexibility on how to carry stuff, at least, since the Venue comes with a dual-level cargo floor and split-folding rear seats.

Sounds Like a Lifestyle Vehicle

Hyundai is marketing the 2020 Venue as the perfect car for the "urban entrepreneur lifestyle." That sounds to us like it could appeal to ride-share drivers, stoplight window washers or hotdog cart owners. But who are we to judge? Self-starters such as those will likely appreciate the colorful paint options, which include, among others, Green Apple, Intense Blue, Scarlet Red and Denim. The Venue even offers a two-tone roof and a denim cloth and faux-leather interior (available with the aforementioned Denim paint).

And if urban entrepreneurs like shifting gears as much as they like the gig economy, they're seriously in luck. The Venue can be had with a six-speed manual transmission, which is a rare offering in this diminutive class of vehicle. A more common pick, however, will be the continuously variable automatic transmission that Hyundai calls the Smartstream IVT, or Intelligent Variable Transmission. Both are mated to a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with 121 horsepower that we expect will return over 30 mpg in combined city/highway driving. All Venues will be front-wheel-drive with no option for all-wheel drive.

Alexa, Start My Venue

The Venue offers a comprehensive suite of driver assistance features, including forward collision warning with automatic braking, lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. All are hugely helpful in busy urban environments. And should you road-trip outside the city, there's an available drowsy driver monitoring system, which is a distinctive addition to an entry-level vehicle.

There's more than just safety tech, too. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility is standard on the Venue's 8-inch touchscreen. Hyundai's Blue Link communications system in the Venue can also be linked with Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices to provide remote starting.

Venue Pricing and Release Date

Hyundai says to expect the 2020 Venue to hit showrooms in the later part of 2019. Pricing hasn't been announced as of publication time, but we expect it will start under $18,000 and top out somewhere near $24,000. The Venue will certainly follow Hyundai's long-held practice of offering a lot of value for money, plus solid warranty coverage consisting of a five-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and five years of roadside assistance.

Stay with Edmunds for upcoming information about the Venue as well as a full rating and review.