Kia Sonet Facelift Global Debut in India Tomorrow: Here's What to Expect

Kia India is all set to take the wraps off its Kia Sonet facelift on December 14, 2023, at a global reveal in India. The sub-four-metre SUV entered one of the most lucrative spaces of the Indian market in August 2020, and though the SUV has received minor tweaks before, the Sonet will get its first mid-cycle refresh tomorrow, with the price to be announced early next year. In the lead-up to the debut of the Sonet facelift, Kia India released the teaser previewing a reworked front fascia characterised by a slimmer grille, tweaked headlights with inverted LED daytime running lights, bumper-mounted fog lamps, and a silver faux skid plate. On the sides, the new car will feature a new set of alloy wheels.

In the second teaser that followed, we were shown what was not revealed earlier – the car's rear end. Based on the teaser, we expect the Sonet facelift to come with the same LED light bar as the Seltos, connected C-shaped tail-lights, a contoured tailgate, an updated bumper, as well as a rear spoiler with an integrated stop lamp.  

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Kia Sonet Facelift: Interior, Features

According to both the teasers, we can now say that the Sonet Facelift will feature an updated dashboard with a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a digital instrument cluster, and new switchgear for the HVAC system. There will also be a black interior theme, a Bose music system, ambient lighting, auto-dimming IRVM, automatic climate control, and a wireless charger. Moreover, you might also get new upholstery and variant options. 

As far as safety goes, the SUV will have the familiar ADAS suite as the one available with the Hyundai Venue. The ADAS suite will include features such as lane departure warning, collision warning, forward collision avoidance assistance, high beam assist, and lane keeping assist. We also expect the car to come with six airbags as standard, TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system), and front/rear parking sensors. 

Kia Sonet Facelift: Variants, Colour Options

A leaked brochure containing information such as variants and colour options reveals that the Kia Sonet facelift will be available in the same variants as before – HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX, HTX+, GTX+, and X-Line. As for colour options, there will be eight monotone, two dual-tone shades, and the Xclusive Matte Graphite shade on the X-Line trim. 

Kia Sonet Facelift: Powertrain

However, the Kia Sonet Facelift is expected to continue with the same set of engines: a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol unit (82bhp and 115Nm), a 1.0-litre T-GDI turbo-petrol unit (118bhp and 172Nm), as well as a 1.5-litre diesel unit (114bhp and 250Nm). 

There will be multiple transmission options offered with the Sonet Facelift. These include a 5-speed manual transmission for the naturally-aspirated petrol model, a 6-speed intelligent manual transmission (iMT) and a 6-speed automatic transmission for the diesel model, and a 6-speed iMT and 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) for the turbocharged petrol version.

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Kia Sonet Facelift: Price, Rivals

With all these upgrades, we expect the facelifted version to command a slight premium over the existing version. The current Sonet ranges from Rs 7.79 lakh to Rs 14.89 lakh. Prices are ex-showroom. Upon launch, the all-new Sonet SUV will continue to rival the likes of the Mahindra XUV300, the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, the Renault Kiger, the Tata Nexon, and the Hyundai Venue.