It's the new Hyundai Bayon, and it's now an angry little SUV

Be still thine beating hearts: Hyundai has updated its eminently sensible Bayon and transformed it from a weeny humdrum hatchback into an angry little SUV.

The headline here is the Bayon's new-found ambition to punch above its weight, bringing stuff you'd normally find on posher, more expensive wares down to the 'compact' class. Also the whole 'bigger and angrier' thing.

That's largely thanks to the Bayon's ‘Art of Steel’ design language, which offers up sharp, blocky and angular looks. Definitely more aggressive than the last car, with a lot of bold angles and straight lines (Hyundai must’ve kept hold of that ruler they used on the Tucson). There are definitely some Ioniq 5 undertones here too. Interesting treatment.

From launch, the Bayon comes with a 1.0-litre, three-pot turbo petrol engine offering between 89 horsepowers or as many as 114, all delivered to the front wheels through either a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearbox.

A 1.6-litre 136bhp hybrid version will arrive in 2027, and that car gets a fancy adaptive regen braking system controlled through a set of paddle shifters, as featured in other Ioniqs and Tucsons.

The Bayon has all the standard techy stuff you'd expect, like Apple Carplay and Android Auto as well as wireless phone charging and some fairly hefty 12.3in curved displays for the infotainment and instrument cluster (much to our dismay).

There's a nifty (or perhaps gimmicky) Digital Key 2, which allows drivers to unlock and start the Bayon from a smartphone or smartwatch. This sounds good as long as you don’t run out of charge and lock yourself out.

The boot's about yer average for this size of car, and if you tick the right boxes and open your wallet, you’ll be able to get an eight-speaker Bose sound system, heated seats front and back, and even a panoramic sunroof.

Open thine wallet further still and you can bag yourself an N-Line version which Hyundai says offers a “more performance-oriented expression". For that, read: 19in alloys, a black roof, some subtle winglets, a diffuser, twin exhaust. On the inside, you’ll find some fancy N-Line seats to let your passengers know you’ve forked out the extra cash.

“The all-new Bayon is much more than an update," said Hyundai Motor Europe boss Xavier Martinet. "We have strengthened its SUV character with a bolder design, more space, more comfort and technologies that customers would normally expect from larger vehicles.”

Hyundai hasn't yet revealed prices,  is yet to reveal official pricing for the new Bayon; however, we expect it to land around the £25k-£30k mark, with the Kia EV3 and Renault 4 shaping up to be its likely competitors.