Kia Sonet is expected to go on sale by the middle of September in India and it will be powered by BSVI 1.0-litre turbo petrol, 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engines
Kia Motors India has made a strong impression in the domestic scenes with the debut of the Seltos last year. The mid-size SUV rose to the top of the sales charts in no time and capitalising on the momentum, the Carnival premium MPV was launched in three variants at the 2020 Auto Expo earlier this year. The South Korean auto major is stepping into a highly lucrative volume-based segment next.
To further strengthen its SUV portfolio, Kia unveiled the near-production Sonet at the biennial motoring expo. Kia Sonet will make its global debut in India on August 7 through a digital event. The sub-four-metre SUV will be slotted below the Seltos and it will rival Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300.
The Sonet will also have global market importance, just as the Hyundai Venue as it will be sold in several developed countries. In a similar fashion to the Kia Seltos and new-gen Hyundai Creta, the Sonet will have plenty in common with the successfully running Venue. The five-seater will more likely be powered by the same engine lineup comprising of a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1.0-litre three-pot turbo petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel.
The reservations for the five-seater are expected to commence ahead of the world premiere and the official market launch could happen around September, as festive season generally sees positive buying sentiments from customers. The Sonet could be loaded to the gills upon arrival just as the Hyundai Venue and it will feature Kia’s UVO Connect based features to have an upper hand over most of its rivals.
To have a distinct advantage, it will reportedly feature the segment-largest 10.25-inch horizontally oriented touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, flat-bottom steering wheel with mounted controls, wireless charging facility, sunroof, ambient lighting, automatic climate control system, ventilated front seats, keyless entry, start/stop button and so on.
Despite sharing the same architecture as the Venue, the Sonet follows Kia’s latest design philosophy followed globally with the presence of sharp Tiger Nose front grille flanked by sleek headlamps and integrated LED DRLs, sporty bumper section, faux skid plates, side cladding, possible full-width LED tail lamps, etc. Kia will also offer the intelligent manual transmission alongside seven-speed DCT.