South Korea
The eighth-generation Hyundai Elantra is now on sale in South Korea, where it is sold as the Avante. Hyundai showed the car at the Busan Motor Show earlier in the summer with prices described as preliminary; the confirmed figures come in higher. The petrol car starts at ₩23,980,000 ($17,300) and the hybrid at ₩30,420,000 ($21,900).
Two front-wheel-drive powertrains open the range. The petrol version is the more significant change: a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine with 149 hp and a CVT, replacing the 1.6 that served the previous generation in Korea. The hybrid keeps its 1.6-litre engine and six-speed dual-clutch gearbox but rises to 157 hp combined, up from 141 hp.
Most of the rest of the money went inside. The new Pleos Connect system runs on a 12.9 or 14.6-inch screen depending on trim, takes over-the-air updates, and adds a voice assistant called Gleo AI that handles vehicle functions and general lookups rather than just media and navigation commands. It is the same software stack Hyundai has been rolling out across the range this year.
The driver-assistance list is unusually deep for the price. Adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking and lane keeping are standard from the base car. Higher trims add blind-spot monitoring, automated lane changes on the highway, Memory Reversing Assist - which retraces a stored path backwards, useful in the narrow approaches common in Korean housing - and pedal misapplication protection, which cuts power if the accelerator is pressed when the car is boxed in.
Hyundai has not detailed export timing. The Elantra name travels to most markets outside Korea, including the United States, where the previous generation remains on sale.
