After making its global debut in December, Kia has launched the Sonet facelift with prices ranging from Rs 7.99 lakh to Rs 15.69 lakh. Deliveries are scheduled to begin by mid January. Kia has given the Sonet mild cosmetic changes and feature additions to help it in the crowded compact SUV segment.
On the outside, the biggest changes are with the lighting elements. There are new LED headlights in the front that are surrounded by new LED daytime running lights, and at the rear, the facelifted Sonet gets two C-shaped tail-lamps that are connected by an LED light bar. The compact SUV gets new front and rear bumpers and a roof-mounted spoiler.
The Kia Sonet facelift comes equipped with the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster that is also present on the new Seltos. The compact SUV still utilises a 10.25-inch central touchscreen infotainment unit and sitting below that screen is a control panel for climate control, drive modes and traction control.
The biggest talking point with the facelifted Sonet is the inclusion of ADAS technology. This feature is currently present on the Sonet’s sister car, the Hyundai Venue. To add to the safety quotient, six airbags, hill-start assist, a tyre pressure monitoring system and ESC are standard across all variants. Top-of-the-line variants get cornering lamps, a 360-degree camera, cooled front seats, leatherette upholstery, a Bose audio system, sunroof and more.
The Kia Sonet continues with the same set of engines and powertrains that were available earlier, however, the manual gearbox and diesel engine combination are available once again. The petrol engine options are as follows: an 83hp, 1.2-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox; a 120hp, 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine available with a 6-speed iMT gearbox; and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The diesel engine is a 116hp, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine that comes with three gearbox options, a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed iMT and a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox.
The Kia Sonet, which has sold an estimated 283,679 units since its launch in India, competes in a crowded compact SUV segment and has usually fared well among the competitors. with this facelift, the Sonet will continue to rival the Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Mahindra XUV300 and other compact SUVs.
