In some global markets, Verna mid-size sedan is sold as Accent; also marketed as Solaris in Russia
Hyundai is getting ready to launch the new Verna mid-sized sedan. In India, launch date is set for 21st March. Ahead of that, official teasers are out. Bookings are also open. To be offered in a choice of two petrol engine options, Verna 2023 will become the most powerful and feature-rich sedan in the segment.
Testing of the new Verna is in full swing. Not only in India, but in South Korea too. In an unfortunate development, a test mule of new 2023 Hyundai Verna has crashed into a bus while on road test in its home market South Korea. There are unlikely to be any major injuries, as the cabin section of the car is intact. Damages to the bus are also limited to the outer rear panels.
2023 Hyundai Verna Test Mule Crash
Much of the impact has been on the bonnet, that has been twisted into an L shape. It appears that the bonnet was the primary point of contact with the rear panels of the bus when the incident happened. There are damages to the bumper as well, which can be seen scraping the tarmac. Side sections of Verna are largely intact, with limited damage to front fenders. All side door windows and rear windscreen are intact.
Looking at the damages to the front section, it is likely that the airbags would have deployed. However, it’s not evident, as the test mule is using heavily tinted windows. However, some of the components under the bonnet may need to be repaired or replaced. At front, the grille, headlamps, light bar, LED DRLs, bumper, etc. will need to be replaced.
As revealed earlier, new-gen Verna has been equipped with ADAS. However, ADAS does not come into play in this incident, as the test mule appears to be a base-spec variant. Evidence to that is the steel wheels the test mule is using.
ADAS will be available with only top-spec variants of new-gen Verna. ADAS features onboard new Verna could include blind spot indication, forward collision warning, forward collision avoidance assist, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic collision warning, rear cross traffic collision avoidance assist and driver attention warning.
Verna safety ratings
Hyundai Verna is yet to be tested by Global NCAP. The Latin American version that is sold as Accent was tested by Latin NCAP in 2021. The sedan had received 0 ratings, primarily due to lack of important safety features such as passenger side airbag and ESC. It is to note that India-spec Verna is relatively better in terms of safety, even though it has not been tested by NCAP.
Safety is expected to be improved with new-gen Verna. Apart from ADAS, there could be other updates on the safety front. New-gen Verna is scheduled to debut in India on March 21, 2023. It will continue to rival the likes of Honda City, Skoda Slavia, Maruti Ciaz and Volkswagen Virtus.
