Kia has unveiled its upcoming sub-compact SUV, Sonet at the Auto Expo. It will go against the likes of Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue and Tata Nexon.
Kia has finally taken the wraps off the Sonet sub-compact SUV concept. It will be Kia’s smallest offering in India and it will be launched in our market in the second half of 2020, mostly by the festive season this year.
Sonet will be under four meters in length. It will be sharing its underpinnings with the Hyundai Venue, but as you can see, it boasts of a completely unique exterior design. So will be the case with the interiors as well.
On the outside, the face gets Kia’s signature Tiger nose grille with honeycomb inserts. The bumpers have a muscular look with a wide air dam in the centre and vertical air intakes on either sides. There’s a standard headlight setup which are sleek looking, replete with DRLs. It further gets unique vents below the headlamp that add to its sporty looks. There are matte-silver-finished fog lamp inserts as well.
In profile, you notice the chunky squarish wheel arches with body cladding running all around the car. The alloys boast of an attractive design and what seems like 16-inchers on this concept, could be a size bigger on the production-spec model. The horizontal tail lamps look neat and are connected by a LED light strip.
On the interiors, some of the expected features include a 10.5inch touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, UVO connected-car tech, Bose Sound System, climate control, wireless phone charger, engine start-stop, cruise control, as well as an electric sunroof.
Expect the Kia Sonet to get a 1.5-litre diesel, a 1.2 petrol, and a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, like Venue. The power figures will also be identical to Venue, with similar transmission options expected. Sonet could come with the 5-speed MT for petrol, a 6-speed MT for the diesel and the DCT for turbo motor.
We expect the Sonet to cost slightly higher than the Hyundai Venue, perhaps from Rs. 6.5 lakhs to about Rs. 11.11 lakh. It will go against Venue, Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, new Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300 and Honda WR-V.
