Korean car company Kia Motors Corporation on Friday unveiled the Sonet compact sports utility vehicle (SUV), the brand's latest 'Made in India' global product after the Seltos.

The SUV, which will be competing with the likes of Hyundai's Venue, Maruti Suzuki's Vitara Brezza, Mahindra & Mahindra's XUV300 and Tata Motors' Nexon, will have many features that are 'firsts' in the segment, said Kia.

Kia is expected to start bookings of the Sonet very soon and sales are expected to commence next month.

“Kia Motors continues to be recognised globally through products which offer exquisite design and world-class quality, along with ‘the power to surprise’. Everything about the all-new Sonet is uniquely Kia and is sure to delight both drivers and passengers,” said Ho Sung Song, President and Chief Executive Officer at Kia Motors Corporation, in a statement.

The Sonet fills a need in the growing SUV market in India and will attract a wider number of consumers to the Kia brand, he said.

“With its aggressive and modern design language, fun-to-drive dynamics, and Kia’s latest high-tech features, the Sonet puts an exclamation point on our ambition to make Kia the brand of choice, especially among millennial and Gen Z consumers," he added.

Key features

Sonet will offer a first-in-class diesel six-speed automatic (1.5-liter CRDi) alongside a wide choice of powertrains including two petrol engines — a 1.2-litre four-cylinder and powerful 1.0 T-GDi (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) — with a choice of five transmissions.

This includes five- and six-speed manuals, an intuitive seven-speed DCT six-speed automatic, and Kia’s new six-speed Smartstream intelligent manual transmission (iMT).

"After the success of the Seltos and Carnival, we are confident that Kia will revolutionise yet another market segment in India with the Sonet by addressing the unmet needs and aspirations of customers,” said Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO at Kia Motors India.

The Sonet will also be produced at Kia’s Anantapur plant and will be initially made for Indian customers. It will address the export markets later.

Some of the features of the Sonet include a 10.25-inch HD touchscreen with navigation and live traffic, smart pure air purifier with virus protection, Bose Premium seven-speaker audio with sub-woofer, ventilated driver and front-passenger seats, LED sound mood lighting, remote engine start for automatic and manual transmission via UVO connect and smart key, over-the-air map updates and multi-drive and traction modes and grip control for automatic models.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW