South KoreaTwo new Hyundais have arrived with nothing behind the steering wheel. On the redesigned Avante, sold as the Elantra outside Korea, and on the new Ioniq 3, the 9.9-inch driver’s display is no longer standard equipment. The large central touchscreen running Pleos Connect is.
The two cars handle the omission differently, and the difference matters more than the fact.
What it costs on each car
On the Avante in South Korea, the driver’s display is a standalone option at 350,000 won ($255). A buyer who wants it can buy it on any car, and a buyer who does not can leave it off.
On the Ioniq 3 in the UK, there is no such option. The entry Advance trim, which opens the range at 22,245 pounds ($28,200), goes without the display and cannot be specified with one. The screen becomes standard from the Premium trim upward, so reaching it means moving up the range rather than ticking a box.
What a driver actually loses
The 9.9-inch strip shows speed, speed-limit signs, remaining range and efficiency data. Without it, all of that moves to the central touchscreen, which means checking your speed involves looking across the cabin rather than through the wheel. The Ioniq 3 has no head-up display either, so on a base car there is no forward-facing readout of any kind.
Hyundai has not stripped the cabin of physical controls in the process. Both cars keep buttons for climate and audio volume rather than burying them in the touchscreen.
The company has not published a US options sheet for the Elantra, so it is not yet clear whether American buyers will face the same choice, or at what price. The 350,000 won figure is Korea-market only.
The eighth-generation Hyundai Elantra (sold as the Avante in South Korea) debuted at the 2026 Busan Motor Show with a sharply angular "Art of Steel" redesign. The compact sedan grows in every dimension and is offered with a 149 hp 2.0-litre petrol engine and a 1.6-litre hybrid rated at a combined 157 hp, both front-wheel drive. On sale in Korea from ₩23,980,000 ($17,300).
The Hyundai Ioniq 3 is a compact electric hatchback for Europe, revealed during Milan Design Week 2026 with UK prices from £22,245 and first deliveries still to be dated. It offers 42.2 kWh and 61 kWh battery options with WLTP range up to 496 km, and is not planned for the US market.
