Kia India sells over 1.5 lakh units of the Sonet in 21 months, 41 per cent of those were diesels

The Sonet is turning out to be Kia's strongest performer in India. In under two years, Kia has sold over 1.5 lakh units of the Sonet, which accounts for over 32 per cent of the brand's total sales in India.

Launched in September 2020 with an introductory price that started at Rs 6.71 Lakhs, Kia sold the first one lakh units of the Sonet in under 12 months.  In FY22, with 73,864 units sold, the Sonet was the fourth highest-selling compact SUV, behind the Tata Nexon and Maruti Vitara Brezza and the Hyundai Venue.

Twenty-per cent of all Sonet buyers opted for the clutchless manual or the iMT gearbox. The higher variants like the HTX+ and GTX+ accounted for about 26 per cent of the brand's overall sales. While 22 per cent of Kia's buyers opted for automatic transmission, the diesel variants accounted for about 41 per cent of the sales. Kia says that black and white were the most popular exterior colour options for its Sonet.

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A few months back, Kia had updated the Sonet, along with the Seltos, with an additional focus on safety and more equipment on the lower variants. Now priced from Rs 7.15 lakh (ex-showroom, India), the Sonet comes with an 83hp, 1.2-litre petrol engine; a 120hp, 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine; and a 1.5-litre diesel. Potential customers can opt for either a 5-speed manual, a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed iMT, a 6-speed torque converter, or a 7-speed DCT, depending on the engine and variant that they choose to go for.

The Sonet rivals other compact SUVs like the Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger, Toyota Urban Cruiser and the recently launched facelift of the Hyundai Venue. The Sonet will also take on the upcoming new-gen Brezza, scheduled to launch on June 30.