Hyundai is an automotive manufacturer that has left a huge impact in the Nepali market. They sell very well and hold a good resale value. Even though Hyundai has been a major player in the market they have had a gap in their lineup. The gap was between the i20 Active, which is a crossover hatchback, and the Creta, which is a compact SUV. The missing piece in the puzzle was filled when Hyundai launched the Venue, which is a sub 4 meter crossover. But the question remains. How good is the Venue?

Exterior
On the design front, the Hyundai Venue comes with a split headlight design where the turn indicators are above the projector headlamps and LED daytime running lamps. The cube-shaped headlight houses the projector headlamps which provide a distinct look of the front end.

The front also gets the signature Hyundai cascade grille with a chrome finish, including the door handles. The Venue sports a boxy design to give it a proper SUV feel. The 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels add to the car’s overall appearance, giving it an appealing side profile. At the rear, Venue continues its cube design with funky tail lights. The Venue also has silver highlights, both at the front and rear bumper which makes it look like a skid plate.

Interior

The interior is minimum, stylish and comfortable. The top end variant gets a steering wheel wrapped in leather and the seats get leather upholstery too. Techwise, the Venue offers an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A new feature in the car that is quite useful is that you can connect two mobile devices through Bluetooth simultaneously.

The Venue also gets automatic climate control, electric sunroof, wireless phone charging, cooled glovebox and cruise control. Talking about the space inside the Venue, the car is pretty decent for a sub 4 meter vehicle, and the boxy design ensures good headspace and decent legroom in the rear seats.

Performance, handling and comfort

As mentioned earlier the venue has a comfortable seating for the driver and its passengers. The suspension is also spot on. It will give you plenty of cushioning for around-town drives but take it to some twisties and it will behave like a sporty handling vehicle.

The Venue holds its line with composure and maintains it with relative ease. It has ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution), Electronic Stability Control and Vehicle Stability Management to make sure that you don’t lose control at all times.

It has a host of other standard safety features throughout the range such as dual front airbags, child safety, seatbelt alerts, rear parking sensors, speed sensing auto door lock and crash sensing auto door unlock. Other safety features include Hill Assist Control, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Stability Management, auto headlamps with escort function cornering lamps, rear camera with rear parking sensors and auto power windows.

Verdict
Hyundai launched the Venue as its first fully connected crossover and its solid presence, refreshing driving experience and seamless connectivity make it a good ride.

This review was co-published with AutoLife, a magazine on all things automobile.