Launched in September 2020, the Kia Sonet has been doing fantastic for the South Korean carmaker in terms of sales. Within 2 months of its arrival, the subcompact SUV gathered over 50,000 bookings. The company says that it received an average of 2 bookings for Sonet in every 3 minutes. While 60 pre cent bookings come for the 1.0L turbo petrol and petrol variants, 40 per cent are for diesel models.
Interestingly, 46 per cent customers are opting for the iMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission), 7-speed DCT automatic and 6-speed automatic gearbox. To be more specific, its 20 per cent for the iMT variants and 26 per cent for DCT and 6-speed automatic models. The manual variants are still gathering maximum bookings, 54 per cent to be exact.
The Kia Sonet has been offered with both petrol and diesel engine options. There are two petrol motors – a 1.2L, naturally aspirated and a 1.0L turbo petrol. While the former comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox (limited to lower trims), the latter is available with a 6-speed iMT and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The naturally aspirated gasoline unit makes 83bhp with 115Nm of torque, and the turbo-petrol motor pushes out 120bhp with 175Nm of torque. Check Out – This Customised Kia Sonet All-Black SUV Is A Looker
Talking about the diesel engine, the Sonet comes with a 1.5L, four-cylinder, turbocharged unit that can be had with either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The oil burner delivers a maximum power of 100bhp with 240Nm and 115bhp with 250Nm when paired to manual and automatic gearboxes respectively. Currently, Kia Sonet is the only vehicle in its category to offer diesel-torque converter gearbox combination.
The 1.2L naturally-aspirated petrol motor with manual transmission delivers a claimed mileage of 18.4kmpl. The turbo petrol engine promises 18.2kmpl with iMT gearbox and 18.3kmpl with DCT unit. The diesel Sonet offers fuel economy of 24.1kmpl (MT) and 19kmpl (AT).
