Kia Sonet Launched At Rs 6.71 Lakh; How Does It Stack Up Against Hyundai Venue?

New Delhi: Kia officially launched its highly-anticipated urban SUV Sonet in India at a starting price of Rs 6.71 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Sonet, modelled on the Hyundai Venue, has generated a lot of buzz following the success of the elder sibling Seltos. Here are the prices:

The Hyundai Venue, its biggest competition starts at a price of Rs 6.75 lakh for the E petrol variant. Here is a detailed list of Venue’s higher models:

SX Diesel Sport manual diesel – Rs 10.30 lakh
SX Dual Tone manual diesel – Rs 10.35 lakh
SX Opt Turbo manual petrol – Rs 10.90 lakh
SX Opt iMT petrol – Rs 11.20 lakh
SX Opt Turbo DT manual petrol – Rs 11.25 lakh
SX Opt manual diesel – Rs 11.46 lakh
SX Opt Sport manual diesel – Rs 11.52 lakh
SX Plus Turbo DCT DT auto petrol – Rs 11.63 lakh.

On close comparison, one can see that on the top-end, the Venue is priced lower than the Sonet though both cars essentially start at similar prices.

Engine-wise, both cars come with 3 options – 1.0-litre turbo GDi (118BHP), 1.2-litre petrol (82BHP), and a 1.5-litre diesel (113BHP) mill. Transmission-wise, there’s 5-speed MT, 6-speed iMT, 6-speed MT, and 6-speed AT.

The top GT Line gets sporty red accents on the exterior and contrast red stitching on the interior like the Seltos.

Kia, like its other products, has loaded the Sonet with gadgets and gizmos. There’s a sunroof, leatherette upholstery, ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, cruise control, an air purifier, a Bose audio system, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the brand’s ‘UVO’ connected car tech and much more.

The top-spec GTX+ variant gets six airbags, ESC, front parking sensors, an all-black cabin, Bose 7-speaker system and a wireless phone charger in addition to the above features.

Kia has so far received 25,000 bookings for the Sonet, and there has been more demand for higher-spec models, claims the company. The waiting periods for the HTX, HTX+ and GTX+ are around 4-5 weeks while that of the HTE petrol is nearly 9 weeks.