By Kia Motors India is going to launch the Sonet compact SUV tomorrow in India. The bookings have already commenced and the company has got more than 6000 bookings on the first day, which is really good as most of the customers have not even seen the vehicle in person. According to media reports, the GTX+ automatic variant is the most popular choice among the customers as it comes loaded with most goodies.
As far as colour options are considered, the white is more popular in Tier-II cities while the dual-tone red and golden is more preferred in Metro cities. Most of the dealers are promising delivery of the Sonet by September 20 as the first batch has been already dispatched but some variants have high waiting periods especially the diesel automatic as it is the only model in the compact SUV segment to come with a proper automatic gearbox option for diesel.
Even though Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV 300 comes with automatic gearbox options but they are AMT and the Sonet comes with a 6-speed torque converter, which is the same gearbox available in the bigger Seltos. The GTX+ trim also comes with petrol engine options. Kia Sonet is packed with features like 10.25-inch touch screen infotainment system, climate control, electronic sunroof, 4.5 inch MID, drive modes, traction modes and more.
The Sonet is powered by three engine options. The 1.2 L petrol engine puts out 83 PS and 113 Nm while the 1.0 L turbo petrol engine produces 123 PS and 172 Nm. The diesel engine is the same 1.5 L unit on Seltos and it produces 100 PS with a manual gearbox and 115 PS when mated to an automatic gearbox. The turbo petrol also gets 6-speed iMT and 7-speed DCT while the 1.2 only gets a manual gearbox. Kia is expected to price the Sonet aggressively.
