The Kia Sonet is the Hyundai Venue sub-4 meter compact SUV’s brother from another mother, and will make its global debut on the 7th of August 2020. Kia Motors has begun bombarding the interweb with information and teasers about the brand new SUV, it’s least priced vehicle for the Indian market. Here’s the latest teaser of the Kia Sonet, giving you a glimpse at the rear-end styling of the sub-4 meter offering.
The Sonet shares its platform with the Hyundai Venue. The Sonet is to the Venue what the Seltos is to the Creta, with the only difference being that the Venue was introduced first. The Sonet will share its engines and gearboxes with the Creta. The 1.2 liter-4 cylinder naturally aspirated petrol (82 Bhp-114 Nm), the 1.0 liter-3 cylinder turbocharged petrol (118 Bhp-172 Nm) and the 1.5 liter-4 cylinder turbocharged diesel (99 Bhp-240 Nm) will be the three engines on offer. The Sonet will offer manual, clutch-less manual (iMT) and twin clutch automatic gearboxes, giving buyers plenty of choice. It’ll be interesting to see if Kia Motors offers the iMT on the diesel models as well.
Also read: Hyundai Venue blasts past 1 lakh sales mark in just a year
Styling will be totally different from that of the Venue, both on the inside and outside. The Sonet will measure nearly the same as the Venue in terms of dimensions but the look and feel is meant give the Kia SUV a distinct appeal. The teasers look quite promising on that front. We expect the Sonet to get a slew of features that are not offered on the Hyundai Venue in order to differentiate the former, which is one of the newer entrants in the hugely competitive sub-4 meter SUV segment in India.
Like its elder sibling Seltos, the Kia Sonet will be built at the South Korean automaker’s Anantapur factory in Andhra Pradesh. The sub-4 meter SUV will have a high amount of localization to keep costs low. A starting price under Rs. 7 lakh is likely for Kia’s newest, and least priced offering in India. The unveil on the 7th of August will reveal the production version of the Sonet. However, the commercial launch in India – slated to be the first market for the new compact SUV – is expected to happen a month down the line. Bookings for the Sonet are likely to commence from next month, in time for the festive season buying in India. Keep an eye on this space as we bring you the latest happenings around this SUV.
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