After weeks of teasing the Bayon, Hyundai India has revealed what its upcoming midsize SUV will look like. The Bayon will be launched in India on October 26, right in the heart of the festive season. Hyundai has already opened bookings for its new midsize SUV, which will sit alongside the Creta in an already crowded segment.
Interestingly, the Bayon will only be offered with a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine with 113 bhp and 144 Nm, mated to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT. At the moment, there’s no confirmation on whether the hybrid powertrain from the global version will make it to the India-spec model later on in its life.
Design- and dimension-wise, the Bayon looks like a smaller version of the Creta. At 4.2 metres in length, the Bayon is about 100 mm shorter than the Creta. The fascia is quite aggressive, with thin LED DRLs, a split headlamp design and a chiselled bonnet. It gets an interesting design for the 17-inch alloy wheels, and the chiselled door design is clearly going for a macho look. The raised window line and narrow rear quarter window make for an interesting design choice. The Bayon lettering is very similar to what you get on the Venue.
It’s on the tech front that the Bayon might have an upper hand compared to its rivals. It comes with two 12.3-inch screens (one for infotainment, the other for the instrument cluster). The former runs on Nvidia architecture and comes with generative AI capabilities, which should allow it to have a smooth operating system. It also comes with 19 controllers capable of over-the-air updates, which Hyundai claims will allow it to remotely update the car to the latest tech.
Hyundai also claims that the Bayon will come with 10 regional languages and 2 international languages. It’ll be interesting to see what the other international language will be featured alongside English. More features in the Bayon will be revealed closer to the launch later this month. Rivals will include the Creta, Kia Seltos, Honda Elevate, Tata Sierra, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Renault Duster, Nissan Tekton, and Citroën Aircross (phew!)
Expect the Bayon to be priced around the same as the Creta with the same powertrain, i.e. Rs 11 lakh to Rs 19.37 lakh, since it packs more tech than its sibling
