Hyundai Bayon Review & Prices

The Bayon is Hyundai’s smallest SUV - and even calling it an SUV is a bit of a stretch. It looks sharp, it’s quite comfortable and it’s well-equipped as standard, but it’s not much fun to drive and the interior plastics are disappointing.

It’s mechanically similar to the Hyundai i20 hatchback, but where that car’s sporty vibe is a bit like your mate who’s made running their personality, the Bayon is more like a keen hiking enthusiast. Sure, the Bayon looks like it can take on the wilderness, but really it’s most comfortable in the city.

In fact, it’s so at home in town that you may well cross shop it against a Volkswagen Polo or Toyota Yaris, not only against the larger Volkswagen T-Cross or Toyota Yaris Cross. You may well consider it against a sporty Ford Puma or a SEAT Arona, too.

But none of them look quite as menacing as the Bayon - no mean feat considering its dinky dimensions. A full-width light bar steals your attention at the front, with the pointy, ‘real’ headlights worked into the wide front grille. There’s another full width light bar at the back, straddled by two triangular taillights, at either side of the tailgate. Subtle body cladding completes the rufty-tufty look.

Unfortunately, the interior isn’t quite so fetching. It’s near-identical to the i20, which means that you’re lost in a sea of hard, scratchy plastics. Whether you opt for all-black or the partial grey/black combination, there’s no amount of funky strakes on the dashboard and door cards that can give the Bayon any sense of poshness inside.

At least it’s well equipped, coming with a pair of 10.3-inch displays for the infotainment and driver’s binnacle, while the physical climate control buttons are a joy to use compared to the touchscreen setups in most alternatives. The Bayon is spacious inside, too with a surprising amount of shoulder space in the back. The 411-litre boot pales in comparison to the Volkswagen T-Cross and Ford Puma, though.

There’s a single engine choice for the Bayon, a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol motor with 90hp, paired to either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic gearbox. The automatic makes sense in high-traffic areas, but we quite like the manual. The light clutch and easy shift-action mean it’s a joy to use.

Around town it fares well when faced with speedbumps and potholes. The i20 may be very jiggly on bad roads, but the bigger Bayon and its taller, softer suspension soaks up rough surfaces with ease. Rear visibility isn’t great, but a standard-fit back-up camera helps when parking.

The engine is a bit too vocal when getting up to motorway speeds, but the Bayon settles into a comfortable cruise. It’s not as fun to drive on a country lane as the i20, as a result of its softer suspension, but it feels safe and secure through bends.

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Starting at just under £24,000, the Hyundai Bayon is rather good value compared to the £26,000 Volkswagen T-Cross or the £27,000 Ford Puma. It’s undercut by the new SEAT Arona at just over £23,000, though.

The Bayon range has been slimmed down to two trim levels for 2026, with the Black Line kicking off the range. It comes as standard with LED lights all round, blacked-out exterior styling, privacy rear glass and a heated front seat and steering wheel combo.

Tech Line is a step up the range, but comes fitted with chrome trims, 17-inch, diamond-cut alloy wheels, keyless entry and go, a wireless phone charger, front parking sensors and the optional black and grey interior colour combo.

The Bayon’s 1.0-litre engine is peppy, but it can be noisy when getting up to motorway speeds

In town

In town the Hyundai Bayon is an easy car to potter about in, just like the Hyundai i20 it’s based on. Light steering and clutch take the strain out of stop-start traffic on manual models, and the optional automatic is smooth and hassle-free.

Compact dimensions give you a little wiggle room on tight city streets, while its raised ride height and lofty seating position give you a good view of the road ahead.

Chunky C-pillars do get in the way of rear visibility a touch, but large side mirrors and a standard-fit rear view camera and parking sensor combo help massively when manoeuvring into tight spaces.

Less pleasant is the strength and sensitivity of the lane keep assist. For a car with such light steering, the aggression with which the steering wheel jerks itself away from the centre of the road is quite alarming. The rest of the assists are better judged, with forward collision assist alerting you to road hazards and autonomous emergency braking as a fall back in case of an imminent collision.

Broken roads are a challenge for the Bayon’s suspension, even with such chunky tyres and tall ride height. Small ruts and potholes are dealt with fairly well, but bigger bumps and dips can be quite harsh and crashy.

On the motorway

Higher speeds are less comfortable in the Hyundai Bayon than driving around town. Wind and road noise aren’t as well suppressed as in some of the Bayon’s alternatives such as the VW T-Cross and Ford Puma.

Only available as a 100hp 1.0-litre petrol, the Bayon is far from a sports car but it doesn’t struggle to reach motorway speeds. The mild hybrid system helps with acceleration, giving the Bayon a little boost when pushing the engine hard.

On a twisty road

While it may feel a little stiff on a bumpy road, the firm suspension comes to the Bayon’s benefit as the body doesn’t lean much through faster bends. That means you can keep a consistent speed up without much worry.

Light steering lets the little Hyundai down on a country lane, as you don’t really have any idea of how much grip you’ve got left through the wheels. The Bayon is best enjoyed as a relaxed cruiser, as a chilled-out way of getting from A to B.

The Bayon’s interior is more practical than the whacky exterior might suggest and you get plenty of space for people. A pity the boot is a bit small

The seats in the Hyundai Bayon are comfortable and supportive, with a lot of adjustability in all directions and. The steering wheel is adjustable for height and reach, so most drivers can get comfortable behind the wheel of the Bayon.

There is enough storage space in the doors to keep a large water bottle and some more assorted goodies, two well-sized cup holders between the front seats and well-sized cubbies beneath the dashboard and arm rest.

Do note that if you have a phone plugged in and you set it down in the cubby under the dashboard it can press one of the buttons by the gear lever. Keep an eye on that in case you wonder why the Bayon has gone into sport mode, turned the rear-view camera on or why your bum has become very warm, very quickly.

Space in the back seats

Adults will find a healthy amount of headroom and legroom thanks to the Hyundai Bayon’s tall roofline and sculpted front seats, but there isn’t that much space below the seats for your feet.

The Bayon may be wide enough in the back for three adults, but there’s a sizable hump in the floor where the middle passenger’s feet go. The rear bench angles in away from the doors too, meaning the outermost passengers have to scooch in a little to get comfortable. Long drives can get a little claustrophobic as a result.

Boot space

Compared to some of its alternatives the Hyundai Bayon’s 334 litre boot is rather small, with both the VW T-Cross and the Ford Puma’s boots coming in at just over 455 litres. An adjustable boot floor comes in handy for deeper loads, but at its lowest setting it can be a bit of a pain to lift out heavier items.

60:40 split folding rear seats are useful for particularly large items, especially as they fold near-flat, but there aren’t many anchor points or other useful features.

A sturdy, well laid out cabin makes the Bayon easy to use, but it’s not particularly interesting to look at

The exterior may be a mix of funky details and dramatic lines, but the Hyundai Bayon’s interior is a much tamer affair. It’s an expanse of charcoal-coloured plastic as standard, with optional blue accents including contrast stitching.

The four-spoke steering wheel is pleasant to hold; soft with clearly laid out controls, and the strakes across the dashboard and doors go a long way to elevate the cabin’s ambience with their interesting texture. Unfortunately there’s a lack of soft-touch plastics around the Bayon’s cabin, even on the door card tops. The Citroen C3 uses fabric to mask its harder plastics, and the VW T-Cross has softer materials on its door cards.

Much like the steering wheel, the buttons on the dashboard and in front of the gear lever are well laid out and clear to read. The heater controls are angled towards the driver, a useful touch to keep your eyes on the road.

The clearly designed instruments in the 10.3-inch driver’s display help with long-distance comfort. All of the Bayon trim levels come with a 10.3-inch infotainment screen set into the top of the dashboard, and whilst it’s not super responsive it’s still nice to use.

A lack of wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity may be frustrating for some, but considering that only the top-spec cars come with wireless charging it’s not that big of an issue. The rear-view camera is fairly crisp, which combined with the standard rear parking sensors makes parking the Bayon a breeze.

All Hyundai Bayons come equipped with the same 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, with a 0-62 mph time of 11.3 seconds for manual cars and 12.4 seconds for automatic models. The performance won’t have you grinning from ear to ear on a good road, but it will leave you smiling when you go to fill up at the pump.

With a claimed fuel economy figure of around 48mpg on a combined cycle, both Bayons make for efficient runarounds. They’re low on emissions too, emitting around 125g/km of CO2 output for a first year road tax figure of £220.

Being a non-hybrid, company car users will find the Bayon is more expensive to own than its bigger Kona Electric sibling due to its higher Benefit in Kind rate. The bigger, electric Hyundai, or even a hybrid alternative, might make more sense to own in that case.

The Advance and Premium Bayon trim levels both come equipped with lane keep assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist and Lane Follow Assist as well as automatic emergency braking. Front, side and curtain airbags come as standard too.

All models are ISOFIX equipped, but ‘Ultimate’ trim level cars are the only Bayons to come fitted with Blind Spot Collision Warning. The Bayon received a four-star Euro NCAP safety rating in 2021.

Hyundai came 20th out of 31 manufacturers in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which is a disappointing result considering the legacy brand’s reputation for solid build quality and reliability.

A five-year, unlimited mileage warranty is more than you get with a T-Cross but less than MG offers with the ZS. Kia offers a longer seven-year warranty, while Toyota and Suzuki lead the way with 10-year coverage, so long as you keep up regular servicing.