Recently, Kia India made a rejig of variants and associated features with its Seltos and Carens. Now, the company has turned its gaze to the more affordable Sonet. Kia will offer two new sub-trims based on lower-tier main trims like HTE and HTK. This way, Kia will add more sunroof equipped variants at affordable prices to better position against segment leaders like Nexon.
Currently, Kia offers Sonet in seven trim levels namely HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX, HTX+, GTX+ and X Line. These have been on sale for some time on the new Sonet facelift. Considering the diverse powertrain options and extensive features and equipment, Sonet sales could have been a lot better.
The company has identified the evolving buyer trends and is now introducing two new trim levels: HTE (O) and HTK (O). These trim levels will reportedly spawn both petrol and diesel variants with multiple gearbox options establishing a diverse lineup. The main highlight of these new trim levels is the addition of an electronic sunroof.
Despite not needing one, Indian car buyers have been wanting a sunroof and OEMs are optimising their product portfolio to meet the rising demand for sunroofs. The new trim levels soon to be introduced in India pack a sunroof at a lower price than before. Especially the HTE (O) trim level.
Tata does something similar with Nexon sub 4m SUV, offering an optional sunroof right from the base Smart main trim, as they call it, Persona. The feature addition with HTK (O) trim level is slightly more profound as it also gets connected LED tail lights, auto climate control along with a rear defogger.
We would have liked it if Kia had been offering more necessary features (for India) like ventilated seats or even ADAS suite with lower trims. But sunroof is the name of the game right now and more OEMs are hopping on this train.
There could be more feature additions with the soon to be introduced HTE (O) and HTK (O) trim levels. If so, they will be revealed in the future. All the powertrain combinations might be carried over as is without any fettling.
There are three engine options on offer – the 1.2L 4-cylinder NA petrol developing 82 bhp and 115 Nm, a 1.0L 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine kicking out 118 bhp and 172 Nm and lastly, the 1.5L oil burner turbo diesel with 113 bhp and 250 Nm. Gearbox options include a 5-speed MT, 6-speed MT, 6-speed iMT, 6-speed torque converter and a 7-speed DCT.