Kia Sonet facelift makes global debut

Along with a revised exterior and interior, the compact SUV also gains ADAS tech.

Published On Dec 14, 2023 12:39:00 PM

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After a whole host of teasers, Kia has finally unveiled the Sonet facelift in India with bookings slated to commence from December 20. The compact SUV, of course, gets cosmetic updates and feature additions, but there’s also one significant mechanical change with this mid-lifecycle facelift. Read on to see what’s new.

New features include ADAS, 360-degree camera, digital cluster
Engine options remain the same; diesel-manual makes a comeback
Pre-bookings to commence on December 20

Kia Sonet facelift exterior design

Design-wise, the Sonet facelift is an evolution of the outgoing model. The most significant change up front is the new, larger LED headlights, which is surrounded on three sides by new LED Daytime Running Lights. The front bumper is also all-new with redesigned skid plates and it houses the new horizontally mounted LED fog lights below the intakes. The Sonet facelift also gets a new design for the 16-inch alloy wheels.

In line with newer Kias, the Sonet facelift gets an LED light bar at the rear, which connects the two vertical, C-shaped tail-lights. Other details of note at the rear are a new bumper and a roof-mounted spoiler. As before, the Tech Line is marked out from the GT and X-Line variants with slightly different treatment for the front and rear bumpers.

The Sonet facelift is available in eight monotone, two dual-tone and one matte finish paint shades, with the Pewter Olive colour from the Seltos being a new addition.

Kia Sonet facelift interior and features

The biggest change on the interior of the Sonet facelift is the addition of a new, 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster borrowed from the larger Seltos SUV. Furthermore, it retains the large centrally mounted 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment housed in a slightly redesigned enclosure. Below this is a new small screen for displaying climate control info, along with two rows of toggles for HVAC controls, traction and drive modes. Kia has also given the Sonet facelift new upholstery for the seats.

As for features, the big talking point is the inclusion of Level 1 ADAS tech like on the Hyundai Venue. It packs in features like forward collision warning, lane departure warning, forward collision avoidance assistance and warning, high beam assist, lane keeping assist, and more. Six airbags, hill-start assist, a tyre pressure monitoring system and ESC are standard across all trims, while higher trims get cornering lamps, four-way powered driver's seat and a 360-degree camera with blind-view monitor.

Other than that, top-spec Sonets will continue to feature cooled front seats, leatherette upholstery, a Bose audio system, sunroof and LED ambient lighting. There are five interior upholstery colour options across all variants, including a new a dual-tone black and brown finish.

Kia Sonet facelift powertrain details

The powertrain options on the Sonet facelift continue unchanged: an 83hp, 1.2-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine that comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox only; a 120hp, 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine; and a 116hp, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine. The turbo-petrol and diesel engines retain the 6-speed iMT, but the 6-speed manual gearbox has been reintroduced on the diesel. The turbo-petrol and diesel engines also get a 7-speed dual-clutch and 6-speed torque converter automatic options, respectively.

Kia Sonet facelift trims and variants

The Sonet continues to be offered in Tech Line, GT Line and X-Line variants, which is further split into the following trims: HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX, HTX+, GTX and X-Line. The 1.2-litre petrol engine is available on the HTE, HTK and HTK+ trims, while the 1.0-turbo-petrol and 1.5-diesel are spread across all three trim lines. The automatic gearboxes for both these engines are limited to the top-spec HTX+, GTX and X-Line trims.

Kia Sonet facelift price and rivals

Kia will announce prices for the Sonet facelift in January. For reference, the pre-facelift Sonet was priced from Rs 7.79 lakh for the base 1.2 petrol to Rs 14.89 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the top-spec diesel-auto. Given the significant changes it has undergone, expect the Sonet facelift to cost a decent chunk more than before.

In terms of rivals, the Kia Sonet facelift will compete with the Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger and other compact SUVs.

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