Italy has just been handed a car that nobody else will be able to buy. Hyundai Motor Company Italy has added a Dark Line version to the KONA crossover — and this is not a global special edition, but an invention of the Korean brand’s Italian arm, sold in Italian showrooms only.
The recipe is almost cheeky in its simplicity: a black contrast roof, mirror caps in the same shade, dark inserts in the grille, new 18-inch black alloy wheels and Dark Line badges on the flanks. Not a gram of fresh engineering — pure optics. And yet this is exactly how Hyundai has been selling cars in Italy for the past couple of years.
Then comes the arithmetic the whole exercise was built around. The petrol version with the 1.0 T-GDI turbo, 115 hp and a manual gearbox starts at 27,950 euros. In the national price list for the 2027 model year KONA, the entry-level XTech with the same engine asks 27,350, while the next rung up, Business, already wants 28,750. So Dark Line costs 600 euros more than the cheapest KONA money can buy. And the contrast roof with black mirrors on its own sits in that very list as a separate option, at 650.
With the 1.6 GDI HEV full hybrid, 138 hp and a DCT, the gap becomes even funnier: 33,550 euros against 33,350 for the basic XTech — a surcharge of 200 euros. WLTP fuel consumption is 4.6–4.8 l/100 km, CO2 emissions 104–109 g/km.
Inside sit a Cluster Supervision digital instrument panel and a multimedia display with navigation, both measuring 12.3 inches. And this is where the second half of the trick hides: the 12.3-inch touchscreen is fitted to every KONA, but an instrument panel like this appears in the price list only from the Business version — the entry-level XTech makes do with a 12-inch cluster and a 4-inch insert. Add dual-zone climate control, a rain sensor, an electrochromic mirror, electric lumbar support for the driver seat, wireless charging, Bluelink services with over-the-air updates and the full SmartSense package: lane keeping, autonomous emergency braking that recognises cars, pedestrians and cyclists, driver fatigue monitoring and traffic sign recognition.
One inconsistency does remain. In its press release Hyundai puts the hybrid at 33,550 euros, while the live campaign page quotes 33,950 — a 400-euro gap the brand does not explain.
The Dark Line family started with the TUCSON, then reached the i20 and the BAYON, and now it is the KONA’s turn. The car is already standing in Italian dealerships, backed by the five-year unlimited-mileage Hyundai warranty.
