Kia finished fourth in the manufacturers’ standings in September 2020 courtesy of the recently launched Sonet
Kia Motors India introduced the Sonet just around two weeks ago in the domestic market. The bookings of the compact SUV have been soaring since day one and the five-seater was expected to make a strong impact in the sales charts from the very beginning. The highly anticipated model posted 9,266 units in just twelve days and it finished on top of its segment.
The sub-four-metre SUV space is one of the hotly contested in India and reaching on top of the sales table in its first month is a feat in itself. The Sonet’s reservations have gone past over 35,000 units already and the deliveries are underway thick and fast. The high-end models are the most preferred among customers according to Kia.
In September 2020, the Sonet did help the South Korean auto major in posting a massive 147.2 per cent Year-on-Year volume increase as 18,676 units were sold against 7,554 units during the corresponding month in 2019. It holds a market share of 6.4 per cent as against 3.4 per cent with a jump of 3.0 per cent.
| Kia Cars | September 2020 Sales | September 2019 Sales |
| 1. Sonet | 9,266 | – |
| 2. Seltos | 9,079 | 7,754 |
| 3. Carnival | 331 | – |
The company finished in fourth position ahead of Mahindra, Honda, Renault and Toyota and it looks set to hold that position in the coming months as the Sonet and Seltos will more likely garner consistent numbers. The Seltos mid-size SUV continued its good run of form with 9,079 units as it goes toe-to-toe with Hyundai Creta that ended within the overall domestic top ten tally.
The Carnival is offered in three variants as the premium MPV made its domestic debut back in February 2020 at the Auto Expo. It posted 331 unit sales last month. The current flagship product from Kia derives power from a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which is good enough to produce a maximum power output of 200 PS and 440 Nm, and is connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The Sonet, on the other hand, uses 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre diesel and 1.0-litre turbo petrol. The Seltos comes equipped with 1.5-litre petrol, a 1.5-litre diesel and a 1.4-litre turbo petrol unit.