Kia Sonet waiting period gets longer: 5 months of wait time for some variants

The Sonet is one of the most successful products for Kia Motors. The new compact-SUVs booking was opened on the 20th of August, 2020 and it was able to gather 50,000 bookings in just 2 months. In September, the Sonet became the best selling SUV in the Indian market. Not only it overtook the compact-SUVs like Tata Nexon, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Venue, it also overtook the mid-size SUVs like Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos. The 60 percent bookings were for the naturally aspirated and turbocharged petrol engine while 40 percent bookings were made for the diesel variants. Overall, 46 percent bookings were made for the newly introduced intelligent Manual Transmission which is basically a clutch-less manual transmission and other automatic gearboxes.

Kia Sonet was able to generate a lot of hype around it. However, now the waiting period for the compact-SUV is increasing. We recently covered that the waiting period of the Seltos has increased up to 4 months for the diesel variants. You can read more about it by clicking here. Now, the same problem is arising for the Sonet also.

The waiting periods of the Kia Sonet have increased up to 4.5 months for some variants. Currently, the lowest waiting period is for the HTX Plus and HTK Plus DCT for the turbo petrol engine. The waiting period is just 6 to 7 weeks, which translates to 1.5 months. Then come the HTE and HTK variants of the diesel engine for which the waiting period is almost 2 months or 7-8 weeks. For the HTK Plus of the diesel and the GTX Plus, GTX Plus DCT, HTK Plus and the HTX variants of the turbocharged petrol engine, the waiting period is 13-14 weeks or just more than 3 months.

Also read: Kia Sonet races past 50,000 bookings in just 2 months

Then comes the HTX Plus, HTX Plus AT, GTX Plus and the GTX Plus AT variants of the diesel variants for which the waiting period is 15-16 weeks or around 3.5 months. For the 1.2 petrol engine with the HTE, HTK and HTK Plus the waiting period is 18-19 weeks which translates to just less than 4.5 months. The longest you would have to wait is for the HTX variant of the diesel engine. The waiting period is about 19-20 weeks or just more than 4.5 months! That is quite a long waiting period. Surprisingly, it is the diesel variants of the Seltos and the Sonet that are facing these more than regular waiting periods. Kia Motors has not yet released any statement behind the reason for this nor they have provided any solution.

Kia launched the Sonet in September while the Sonet Concept was showcased at the Auto Expo where it gathered a lot of attention. It shares its underpinnings and engine options with the Venue as Hyundai and Kia Motors are sister companies. Kia Sonet is available with three engine options and five transmission options. So, Kia has made sure that there is a variant available for everyone.

There is the 1.2-litre petrol engine which produces 83 PS of max power and a peak torque output of 115 Nm. It is mated only to a 5-speed manual gearbox. There is the Seltos derived 1.5-litre engine which is detuned. The engine produces 100 PS of max power and 240 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. If you get the 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox with the diesel engine then you get the same output as the Seltos.

So, the diesel engine produces 115 PS of max power and 250 Nm. The highlight of the Sonet is the 1.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine that is capable of producing 120 PS of max power and 172 Nm of peak torque. The engine is offered with a 7-speed Dual Clutch Automatic transmission or a 6-speed iMT or intelligent Manual Transmission which is essentially a clutchless manual transmission.

Also read: All-new 2020 Hyundai i20 premium hatchback: India-spec version REVEALED (Video)