Kia Sonet will finally have its world premiere on August 7, 2020 in production-ready avatar. Being unveiled at the 2020 Auto Expo in February in Concept form, it will be launched in the Indian market during the festive season around October 2020. The sub-compact SUV will be available with a total of three engine options: a 1.0L turbocharged petrol, a 1.2L naturally aspirated petrol and a 1.5L diesel engine. It will take on the likes of Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Ford EcoSport, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 in the Indian market.
It is being learnt that Kia Sonet production model will retain most of the styling cues of the concept version. The sub 4-meter SUV will ride on 18-inch alloy wheels which will be shod with 255-section tyres. The front fascia will flaunt the signature Kia 'Tiger Nose' grille with LED headlamps and DRLs. There will be a LED tail-lamp cluster at the rear end. The cabin will boast of the massive 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with UVO connected car technology which will be borrowed from the Seltos SUV. In addition, several other premium features such as sunroof, Bose sound system, cruise control, automatic climate control with rear AC vents, Start/Stop button etc. will be available with the SUV.
Mechanically, Kia Sonet will be available with three engine options as told earlier. The transmission choices will be a 6-speed manual, an intelligent manual transmission (iMT) unit and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. For those asking, the iMT or AMT gearbox has already debuted with Hyundai Venue a few days back in the country. The diesel variants will get a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox which will be imported. Thus, the diesel-automatic variants might cost in excess of Rs 10 Lakhs (Ex. Showroom). Though, Kia Sonet price is expected to begin at Rs 7 Lakhs. The company intends to retail nearly 70,000 units of the SUV in its first year in the country.
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