Hyundai Kona

On the first generation, from 2018, the panels are interchangeable and the difference is only in engines and equipment. On the second, from 2023, Hyundai split the bodies: the American version has different front and rear bumpers that make it slightly longer, and the metal beams behind them take entirely different mountings because of the American low-speed impact test.

The orange side markers are the tell you can see in the photograph and pay for at the bodyshop. The American Kona carries them as a legal requirement, moulded into the plastic trims above the front wheels. European trims are clean. Because those trims clip to the metal fender itself, the holes in the American panel are in different positions — a European fender on an American Kona means either holes in the wrong place, or an arch trim with nothing to grip.

The engines diverge as they do everywhere else in the brand. The American car is naturally aspirated petrol — the 2.0, which is the one we hold most of, and the 1.6 turbo in the sporting trims. Europe runs small turbocharged engines and has a diesel, which America never received for this model.

The electric Kona is a third car and should not be confused with the two above. It has its own grille-less nose, its own floor and its own question on import: the fast-charging port in America is CCS1, and Bulgarian stations are CCS2.

The drivetrain is as on the Tucson — an option rather than a fitting, and in our stock the front-drive cars are as numerous as the four-wheel-drive ones. Check the individual car, because the trim does not tell you.