Kia Motors has finally revealed the launch date for what is going to be one of the most anticipated car launches of the year – the Sonet – to be on September 18, 2020. Prices are expected to range from Rs 7-13 lakh, ex-showroom.
After the launch of the fifth-gen Honda City earlier this month, the launch of the Kia Sonet is perhaps the most anticipated and important car launch of the year. Kia Motors has now announced that they will officially launch the Sonet sub-compact SUV in India on September 18, 2020. Although the Kia Sonet is a sibling to the Hyundai Venue, Kia has done a fantastic job in differentiating the Sonet from the Venue in every aspect, be it design, features or even the powertrain options on offer for that matter.
Kia will offer the Sonet with three engine options and five gearbox options. First, there’s the familiar 1.2L, naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 83bhp and 115Nm of torque. This engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Then there’s the 1.0L turbo-petrol engine that produces 120hp and 172Nm of torque and this comes mated to either the 6-speed iMT gearbox or a 7-speed DCT gearbox. Lastly, the 1.5L diesel engine comes in two specs of tune – 115hp/250Nm mated to a 6-speed AT or 100hp/240Nm mated to a 6-speed MT. The combination of a torque-converter and a diesel engine is unique in the compact SUV segment.
Just like the Seltos, the Sonet too is feature packed to the brim, many of which are also segment first features. To mention a few stand out features, they’d include the 10.25-inch touchscreen with Kia’s Uvo connectivity suite, leatherette upholstery, ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, a sunroof, cruise control, auto climate control, auto headlamps, cooled wireless phone charging, front and rear parking sensors, a tyre-pressure monitor, and safety equipment like 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, ESC, hill assist control (HAC), vehicle stability management (VSM) and brake assist. The Sonet also offers drive modes and traction modes in the automatic version.
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We had also revealed to you that the Sonet will be available in two trim levels – the Tech Line and the GT Line – just like the Seltos. However, the variant lineup is not as confusing as in the Seltos. In fact, there will just be six trims on offer in total. The Tech Line will include the HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX and HTX+ trims. While the GT Line will comprise of a single, fully-loaded GTX+ trim level. There are certain cosmetic differences on the exterior between the two trim lines and the interiors too have a different color scheme. To put it shortly, the GT Line is the sportier looking variant with plenty of red accents on the outside and all-black upholstery on the interiors.
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The Kia Sonet is expected to be priced from about Rs 7 lakh to Rs 13 lakh, ex-showroom. The price of the top-spec variant of the Sonet might be quite high as compared to its rivals due to the diesel-automatic combination. It is however miles ahead of its competition in terms of features and premium-ness. The Sonet sits in an extremely crowded segment of sub-compact SUVs which consists of the Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300, and Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Later, it will also be joined by the upcoming Toyota Urban Cruiser, the Nissan Magnite and also the Renault Kiger.
