While Hyundai keeps teasing the official reveal of the upcoming Kona, the world has already caught a glimpse in early May, and this exclusive scoop gives our best look yet at the upcoming Korean sub-compact SUV.

The new Hyundai Kona was caught in Madrid’s city center in an early Sunday morning, during what looks like filming a press kit video or TV spot.

The shooting involved a group of Mercedes V-Class models being behind and blocking the traffic in order to let this light blue example and the camera car some clean space.

Hyundai wanted something special from the design of the new Kona and that shows from the very first moment you lay your eyes on it.

The bold front end is dominated by the twin-headlamp setup -with separate DRLs mounted over the LED headlights- the new ‘Cascading Grille’ and lots of plastic cladding. The rear end mixes design cues from the bigger Tucson with the same bold style, including a second set of lighting units that house the turning and fog lights as well as the reverse light.

Overall it looks different and fresh, but whether the audience will respond to Hyundai’s new image remains to be seen.

Underneath its funky bodywork, the new Hyundai Kona is reportedly using a mix of i20 and i30 parts, with the company revealing that they will offer an all-wheel drive version as an option. Engine options will most certainly include the turbocharged 1.0 and 1.4-litre units that are already on offer in the i20 and i30 models, along with a selection of diesel units.

On a previous scoop, we had to chance to also take a look inside the upcoming Kona, revealing that the dashboard will follow the design and ergonomics of the company’s latest models, with a touchscreen display mounted over the air vents.

Hyundai is planning to reveal the new Kona in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more on the new rival of the Renault Captur, the Nissan Juke and the also upcoming VW T-Roc.

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