Jeep Renegade vs Hyundai Kona

What's the difference?

Jeep's Renegade might be late to the mini-SUV party but it comes with a pretty impressive back catalogue to suggest that this is a SUV that can cash the cheques its name can write.

The top of the range Trailhawk can write even bigger cheques than the lower models, bringing with it a range of off-road tech toys to let you really get down and dirty.

The Hyundai Kona is the Korean car giant’s best-selling model in Australia, by a reasonably comfortable margin. And in 2025 it managed to battle its way to the top of the ludicrously competitive ‘Small SUV under $45K’ new-vehicle sales category.

Chery’s breakthrough Tiggo 4 Pro, GWM’s Haval Jolion, the MG ZS and close to 20 other well-credited segment rivals can all dream on because currently the Kona has their measure.

So, what’s all that about? Why are so many Aussie SUV buyers choosing to put a Kona in the driveway?

In an attempt to answer that question we slotted a Kona Hybrid into the CarsGuide garage, in this case a new mid-spec Elite version, to explore its relative strengths and weaknesses.

So, if you’re in the market for a compact SUV, with the Kona on your shortlist (and odds are it already is) stay with us for a detailed examination.