Hyundai Kona vs Kia Seltos

Two of the most popular small SUVs in Australia, and another pair of cousins from the same parent company. Both are easy-to-park five-seaters that feel roomier inside than their size suggests. The split here is about running costs, safety ratings and price.

Hyundai

Kona

From $33,700

Buy the Kona if

you want a hybrid, a current safety rating or the newest design. The hybrid is genuinely frugal, the 5-star ANCAP score is up to date, and the redesigned cabin feels a class bigger than the old one. You pay a little more to get in than the Seltos, and Hyundai's warranty runs 5 years unless you service with them, where it reaches 7. There is a fully electric Kona sold separately if you want to go further.

View the Kona

Kia

Seltos

From $30,750

Buy the Seltos if

you want the lower price, a turbo with all-wheel drive, or Kia's 7-year warranty with no conditions. It is one of the roomier small SUVs and the turbo adds real pace and wet-weather grip. Two caveats: its ANCAP rating has expired, so it is no longer star-rated, and wireless phone mirroring only works on the base grade, so higher grades mean plugging in.

View the Seltos

The verdict

The Kona is the newer, more rounded package. It offers a hybrid that sips fuel, its 5-star ANCAP rating is current, and the latest redesign gives it a cabin that feels a size up. The Seltos counters on price, starting lower than the Kona, and adds a punchy turbo with all-wheel drive for grip and pace the Kona range does not match. It also carries Kia's 7-year warranty against Hyundai's 5, which only becomes 7 if you keep servicing with Hyundai.

Two things are worth knowing about the Seltos first. Its ANCAP rating dates from 2019 and has now expired, so it no longer carries a current safety star rating, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto only work on the base S grade, so higher grades go back to a cable. If low running costs and an up-to-date safety rating matter most, the Kona is the safer pick. If price, the turbo or the longer warranty lead, the Seltos makes its case.

Compare them spec for spec

Specs and prices change with each grade and configuration, so the fairest comparison is at the exact versions you are weighing up. Line them up side by side, down to the grade, in the interactive tool.

Compare Kona & Seltos

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Last updated August 2026