2025 Nissan Kicks vs. Hyundai Kona vs. VW Taos Comparison Test: Search For the Best Subcompact SUV

Last summer, our Big Test of Small SUVs compared eight high-spec subcompact sport utility vehicles, and we concluded buyers in this segment are indeed lucky. The Hyundai Kona narrowly beat a covey of closely clustered competitors, and a matter as trifling as a poorly behaved powertrain was enough to push the otherwise competent Kia Seltos into last place. No question, there are lots of great choices in this segment.

A couple of promising new prospects hit the market for 2025. The new version of the Nissan Kicks brings attractive styling and up-to-date safety features plus optional all-wheel drive, which was missing from the outgoing Kicks (which is still on sale as the Kicks Play). The Volkswagen Taos is updated extensively for 2025, including a desperately needed new transmission for the all-wheel-drive version.

We’ve matched these two against last summer’s winner, the Hyundai Kona, asking the automakers to send us top-of-the-line all-wheel-drive models. We’re looking for a practical, stylish ride that delivers lots of features, with the easy parking and decent fuel economy of a smaller vehicle. In other words, we want big-SUV comfort with small-SUV convenience.

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Meet Our Competitors

Hyundai sent a 2025 Kona nearly identical to last summer’s winner: a Limited model with no options save a set of floormats. Not that the Limited needs any options; it’s lavishly equipped with Hyundai’s stellar Highway Driving Assist advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), dual-zone climate control, a power driver’s seat, heated and cooled front seats, a power tailgate, eight-speaker Bose stereo, H-Tex fake leather, and a front-row sunroof. With the floormats, it stickered for $35,275.

Nissan’s new-for-2025 Kicks is the bargain of this set. Its starting price is about $3,000 less than the cheapest versions of the Kona and Taos, and the top-of-the-line Kicks SR AWD Nissan sent us undercut the Kona by $3,355 and the Taos by $4,655. For that price, we got ProPilot Assist ADAS, single-zone climate control, and a very attractive red-and-black cloth-and-faux-leather interior. A $1,950 Premium package added a 10-speaker Bose stereo with front-headrest speakers, panoramic sunroof, rear-seat heater ducts, and heated front seats and steering wheel. Floormats, mud flaps, 19-inch wheels and metallic paint rounded out the options list and the $31,920 MSRP.

Volkswagen sent a top-of-the-lineup Taos SEL, which gets dual-zone climate control, heated and cooled front seats with power adjustment for the driver, IQ Drive ADAS, a six-speaker stereo, and—here’s a surprise—genuine leather seating surfaces. While the other two competitors offer front- or all-wheel drive for all trim levels, the SEL version of the Taos comes with AWD standard. Optional metallic paint brought the Volkswagen’s sticker up to a test-highest $36,575.

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Lookin’ Good in the ’Burbs

No exotic destinations for these three; we evaluated them on home turf, between the suburban wasteland of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley and the straight freeways and twisty canyon roads of Malibu. We met up at our favorite pastrami spot—post-drive deliberations always go better with pastrami—and took some time to look over the vehicles.

First thing we agreed upon: None of these SUVs look like low-end models. We love the Kona’s Disney-robot styling; pair it with a Rivian R1S, and they could be the comic-relief duo in the next Star Wars production. That said, we wonder how well the Kona’s design will age.

We’d say the new Kicks reminds us of the old Nissan Juke, but we’re afraid some might interpret that as an insult. Like the Juke, the Kicks is a happy, playful-looking car, but unlike the Juke, it’s not a love-it-or-hate-it deal. From the browed front fenders to the complex D-pillar treatment, with nifty-looking wheels and lots of handsome details in between, it was easy to forget the Kicks was the least expensive subcompact SUV here.

VW’s Taos is the most conservatively styled, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. We can debate the merits of the Bright Moss Green Metallic paint (waiter, please bring more pastrami), but the handsome new-for-2025 grille and bold-but-not-outlandish rocker-panel cladding nicely complement the clean, mature lines. The Taos looks like a family SUV that strapped on its hiking boots for an invigorating ramble.

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Inside the Hyundai Kona: Portable Sunshine

We spent as much time admiring the insides of these subcompact SUVs as the outsides, and again we found it difficult not to really like the Kona. Our test car had a light gray interior that made it feel open and airy—so much so, we can almost forgive the dinky single-pane sunroof. The Kicks and Kona have panoramic sunroofs that let back-seaters enjoy the view, too.

We liked the Kona’s screen graphics and easy-to-use control layout, and we took special note of the center console. With the transmission shifter on the steering column and nifty retractable cupholders, the Kona offers way more storage space than the other two. Is Hyundai the only manufacturer really thinking about how much can be done with the space between the front seats? The Kona’s back seat earned praise, too, with a big, supportive bottom cushion and plenty of vents, cupholders and USB ports. But the adjustable backrest only has two positions, both of which put the headrest pretty far from your head.

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Inside the Nissan Kicks: Great Looks, Less Comfort

We found the Nissan’s interior as good-looking as the exterior. It was the only SUV here with cloth seating surfaces on its otherwise-fake-leather seats, but the black-and-red weave looked good, as did the red stitching and trim on the doors and center console. The big, crisp dashboard screens reminded us the Kicks is the latest design here, and we loved the instrument panel’s smooth, flicker-free animation. The Kicks only had single-zone climate control versus dual-zone for its rivals, but that’s an acceptable compromise for the lower price.

Unfortunately, all our test drivers had trouble getting comfortable in the driver’s seat. It wasn’t just the lack of power adjustment as found in the Kona and Taos, though the Nissan’s ratcheting back rest didn’t help. There’s no adjustable lumbar support, and the seat needs more back support. We found the back seat less supportive and more cramped than the others, and although it has an armrest and USB ports, there are no A/C vents. It’s a minor complaint, but we also noticed the door panels for the back seat aren’t as nice as the ones up front, a cost-cutting measure shared by the Taos.

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Inside the Volkswagen Taos: More Space Despite the Specs

Volkswagen did a great job dressing up the Taos’ interior with two-tone leather (real stuff under our butts, synthetic on the wings) and bright, classy trim. The dashboard looks old-fashioned compared to the Kicks’ and the Kona’s, but we liked how the instrument panel offers a choice of traditional analog-style gauges or a full-size moving map. We aren’t fans of the capacitive-touch climate controls, though.

What really impressed us about the Taos was the space. The VW has nearly 2 inches more headroom than the Kona and the Kicks, but it feels like 2 feet. Although the specs say the Hyundai offers more rear-seat legroom, we found more stretch-out space in the Taos. Same for the cargo area: On paper it trails the Kona by 0.6 cubic feet, but our photographers had an easier time stowing their bulky gear into the Taos than the Kona. These SUVs may be aimed at singles and childless couples, but we all agreed the VW is the one best suited to a growing family. Still, it’s worth noting the Taos was the only SUV here not to win a safety award from IIHS. The Kicks is a Top Safety Pick, and the Kona is a Top Safety Pick Plus, but the Taos’ small-overlap crash rating of Average denied it such an honor.

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Driving the Hyundai Kona: Way to Cruise

Driving excitement was not top of our priority list during this test, and yet we were genuinely surprised at how engaging these three SUVs are. The Kona is the only one of these SUVs to offer a choice of engines, though it’s not really a choice. If you buy the Limited model like the one here or the one-down-from-the-top N-Line, you get a 190-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter, while SE and SEL models get a 147-hp non-turbo 2.0. It’s no surprise the Kona was the quickest of this bunch, running to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds. But power brings thirst, and the Hyundai returned the worst fuel economy and the shortest cruising range of the three.

Handling-wise, the Kona exhibits more body roll than the others, and its steering precision is just OK, though it did hang on nicely in the curves. Still, cruising is what the Kona does best. It was the quietest here and had the best-sounding stereo. Hyundai Drive Assist, an adaptive-cruise control system that centers the Kona in its lane and steers it around curves (provided the driver keeps a hand on the wheel) is the best ADAS offered by this group, though Volkswagen’s IQ.Drive comes close.

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Driving the Nissan Kicks: More Eager Than Expected

The Kicks’ 2.0-liter non-turbo engine is the least powerful of the group at 141 hp, and acceleration, as expected, was slowest. At 10.4 seconds to 60, it’s pokey on paper; in reality, not so much. The Kicks has a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which helps maximize both power and fuel economy. Its EPA fuel economy ratings are the best here, and given the Kicks has no turbocharger, it’s more likely to deliver on those numbers. Acceleration is unexpectedly eager at low speeds, to the degree that one editor wished for a little less punch when starting from rest. But the power trails off as the speed builds, and the engine is noisy when it works hard, which is most of the time. Speaking of noise, we expected great things from the ten-speaker Bose stereo, but it didn’t sound any better than the VW’s six-speaker arrangement.

The Nissan Kicks is the lightest SUV of this group, and it drives accordingly, with great steering feel and nimble handling. The ride is a bit stiffer than that of the Kona or Taos, which enhances the responsive feel. It lacks the solidity of the Taos and the softness of the Kona, as if the chassis was engineered to a lower price point, which it probably was. Were the Kicks more expensive, we’d be more critical; it isn’t, so we aren’t.

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Driving the Volkswagen Taos: The Great Middle Path

If Goldilocks were one of the MotorTrend editors participating in this test, she’d love the Taos. Its engine, a 174-hp turbocharged 1.5, delivers a nice balance of acceleration (0–60 in 8.9 seconds) and fuel economy (28 mpg on the EPA combined cycle, midway between the Kona and the Kicks), with less noticeable turbo lag than the Hyundai. Its big 14.5-gallon gas tank gives it the longest cruising range. The new eight-speed transmission shifts smoothly, something we can’t say about the twin-clutch automatic in last year’s AWD Taos. Still, the new transmission was slow to downshift when we demanded power, even in Sport mode, which made us miss the response of the Kicks’ CVT. Steering feel is good, and the driving experience feels like a happy compromise between the softer Hyundai and the sportier Nissan.

The Taos’ IQ.Drive ADAS is nearly as good as the Kona’s, if a bit more subtle; it will happily steer the little VW through some tricky curves (provided it senses an overriding hand on the wheel, that is), whereas the Kicks’ ProPilot system had more trouble with sharper turns. Overall, the Taos feels the most substantial and well engineered of the lot. It was the most expensive SUV here, too, and that’s exactly how it feels from behind the wheel.

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Pass the Mustard, It’s Time to Rank Our Competitors

As with our Big Test of Small SUVs, we are impressed by the variety of vehicles on offer in this segment. All three provide the big-SUV ambiance and convenience we always seek, without the big-SUV bulk. Still, our job is to rank them, so, with heaping pastrami sandwiches before us, that’s what we did.

Someone has to come in third, and it’s the Nissan Kicks. For the most part, we all like the Kicks, but it reminds us that the subcompact SUV class is not really a single segment. There’s a high end and a low end, and the Kicks is designed to compete against less expensive models like the Hyundai Venue, Chevrolet Trax, and Buick Envista. The latter two competed in our previous comparison, and although we thought highly of both, we think the Kicks would have come out ahead of them. It’s a nicer vehicle, and the availability of all-wheel drive for less than $25,000 is a boon.

But value wasn’t this test’s sole focus. The Kicks has less space, fewer features, and drives like the less expensive vehicle it is. But don’t forget that $4,000 price gap and remember that for the price of the Taos SEL in this comparison, you can get a nicely equipped Nissan Rogue, one of the best SUVs in the one-size-up compact category.

Picking a Winner: Head or Heart?

We spent a long time (and ate a lot of pastrami) deliberating between the 2025 Hyundai Kona and the 2025 Volkswagen Taos. The Kona offers more features than the Taos—usable ones, like a power liftgate—for less money. (Actually, VW’s product planners should be a little ashamed the Taos SEL is bereft of features found in the top-line Kicks, like brake auto-hold and a surround-view parking camera.) The Kona’s interior feels more modern than what the Taos offers, and the front-seat storage is unbeatable.

On the other hand, despite what the measurements tell us, the Taos is more comfortable for back-seat passengers and provides more usable cargo space. It’s more refined, and its interior design is more mature. When we first encountered the face-lifted Taos, we thought it would be a mid-pack competitor, but driving it back to back with two competent rivals showed us what a practical vehicle it is. The Kona appealed to our hearts; the Taos appealed to our heads.

We talked about how we use these cars in real life, about commuting in traffic, going out with friends, and showing family L.A.’s sights, and in the end, our heads won. We still love the Kona, and its value equation is stronger than the VW’s, but the updated Taos delivers more usability with a more upscale feel that’s worth a slightly higher car payment. Second place for the Hyundai Kona Limited, then; the Volkswagen Taos SEL is the winner.

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THIRD PLACE: 2025 NISSAN KICKS SR AWD

Verdict

A solid SUV aimed squarely at the middle of the market.

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SECOND PLACE: 2025 HYUNDAI KONA LIMITED

Verdict

A happy, useful, value-packed compact SUV.

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FIRST PLACE: 2025 VOLKSWAGEN TAOS SEL

Verdict

A well-thought-out SUV with room to grow for the future.