Hyundai Bayon 2021 UK first drive

The compact crossover is now doing such good business for the European car industry that several of the big players have decided they need not one but two of them in their showrooms; and so the apparently never-ending conveyer belt of new cars like these looks set to find a second gear. Whoopee.

To those of us who find these cars about as interesting as freshly daubed matt emulsion on plasterboard, this news may be somewhat unwelcome. But facts are facts; and if you need a smallish family car that’s affordable, spacious, versatile, convenient, comfortable, well equipped and easy to drive, this is the class in which it's easiest to find one.

The new Hyundai Bayon will certainly give you all of that. Think of this as the new, slightly more practical, servile sidekick of Hyundai’s Hyundai Kona, if you will – a Crossland to the Kona’s Mokka, or an Ford Ecosport rather than a Ford Puma rival.

It’s a tiny bit longer at the kerb than the Kona and has a lower roofline, but it offers a more spacious interior, no doubt partly as a result of being developed on Hyundai-Kia’s more recent ‘K2’ supermini platform. Where the Kona is a little bit of a squeeze for taller adults sitting line astern, the Bayon can accommodate them more comfortably, and it also offers about 10 % more boot space.

The styling of the car is more conservative than the Kona’s, and likewise of Hyundai bigger, recently redesigned SUVs. It hasn’t got the Hyundai Tucson’s big wing-shaped grille, or the Santa Fe’s even bigger ovoid one. But like both of those sibling cars, it does have a frontal ‘face’ defined by its independently positioned daytime running lights rather than by its main headlights – a trick introduced by Citroën a few years ago, which does make cars stand out on the road. The Bayon has an exterior busy with sharp feature lines and vaguely triangular shapes. It may not be handsome but it’s certainly not anonymous, and the gloss black roof, pillars and tailgate on top-of-the-line cars also help it to stand out that bit more.

Aside from being versatile and spacious, the Bayon will sell, it’s hoped, for its on-board technology and active safety features. Even entry-level cars get digital instruments and an 8.0in touchscreen infotainment set-up, while our mid-spec test car had a bigger 10.3in infotainment set-up with wireless Apple Car Play, a wireless device charging pad, and certain Bluelink online services as standard (online live traffic navigation routing, live parking information, and remote app-based functions via your mobile phone). It also had Hyundai’s latest lane-keeping, driver monitoring and crash mitigation systems, the last of which is capable of warning you of nearby pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars. If you like a modern car that makes you feel safer with every flash and bleep, it’s certainly got all the right sensors, bulbs and bleepers.