[JithinR]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Then there is no option. Want rear space AND big boot, don't even look at any sub-4 M SUVs. Only full-size SUVs or Creta/Seltos/Duster are answer.

And, who said anything about XUV300 being an excellent product or where did I say Kia should take inspiration form Mahindra? Please read again. I just praised rear seat space of XUV. Not the entire car or Mahindra. Every car, no matter how bad, has at least one positive trait. Please let us learn to admire good features of other brands, too. Let's non't be blinded by badges. IMO, Kia should give more rear-space than trunk space because I seat folks in rear seat 5/6 times a year but load up trunk may be just once a year when someone comes acalling from abroad. Again, it is in my opinion. Let us leave at that.

If you need a decent amount of rear-seat space along with a decent amount of boot space then Nexon does that balance a lot better than XUV3OO.

And, where did I accuse you of claiming that Mahindra had made an excellent product? Since your opinion is:

Originally Posted by pgsagar

....More leg-space or more trunk space is a choice they have to make. Can't have both.....That is one good thing about XUV300. More rear space and smaller trunk.

I had just said that personal preferences aside the XUV3OO is a bad example of how to balance these two.. rear seat space and boot space. The Nexon is better in that aspect. Obviously, this opinion of mine is not blinded by any badge since the better option is from Nexon (again an Indian product).

IMO, Kia should give us a decent balance of rear-seat space and boot space. Simply because for families that have just one car in the house something that can easily be used inside the city (sub 4m CSUV with automatic) and can do decent highway trips (not all India one's) will sell a lot better than products with such a confused approach.

This is just my opinion(i.e. Kia should follow Nexon). Yes, agreed let's leave it at that.

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by iamitp

Any estimate on what might be the price gap between Kia Sonet and Hyundai Creta/Kia Seltos for the top Petrol/Diesel AT variants?

Creta SX (O) DCT/D AT is 17.2 Lakhs
Seltos GTX+ DCT/D AT is 17.29/17.34 Lakhs

Hard to figure from Hyundai Venue's prices as they don't have a SX (O) variant for the Petrol DCT, or a Diesel auto model.

IMHO the car will hit the bullseye if the Top Spec Diesel Auto is priced at 14L OTR Delhi. I may be wrong, and somewhere I feel that it will surely cross that mark (which I honestly don'e want it to). Nonetheless, if the success of the Creta is anything to go by, I presume that KIA will play it safe to gain some momentum in the SC-SUV segment, which they have kinda lost in the C-SUV. Not to forget, that apart from their sibling, which is doing healthy numbers; they also have the Brezza at the top to compete with.
Like I mentioned in my earlier post, we all know how the car is and what to expect. It will be around 80-85% similar to the Venue, if not more. What will be the make or break criteria is the PRICE. Just a matter of few weeks and we will have the answer.

[7000plusrpm]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

IMHO the car will hit the bullseye if the Top Spec Diesel Auto is priced at 14L OTR Delhi.

I think the top of the line Diesel AT will be below 14L OTR. Recently, I was offered an Ecosport Diesel Sports version with 6 years warranty for 12.75L OTR, Kolkata. Considering it as benchmark and even if I consider a premium of about 1L for the AT, this should be well below 14L OTR.
If Sonet is priced too high, it will get into Seltos HTK+ Diesel AT territory. And we all know, folks here would prefer a bigger car any day to a safer car a segment below. Most people of course would go for the Seltos for a little more money.

[adg_andy]

Feature wise the car is loaded (like what is for all KIA cars). However , the proportion at the rear spoils it for me, and the weird center console. Diesel AT is definitely a plus. It should sell like warm cakes and give stiff competition to the Venue. The pricing at the upper end of the variants are surely going to be into Creta /Seltos category.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

All the colour options for the Sonet (GT Line shown here) -

Red + Black


White Pearl + Black


Beige Gold + Black


Glacier White Pearl


Steel Silver


Gravity Grey


Intense Red


Aurora Black Pearl


Intelligency Blue


Beige Gold

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

All the colour options for the Sonet (GT Line shown here) -

Except the Champaign gold like shade, I liked all. The gold one looks too light or too cheesy depending on lighting conditions. Very few cars of today are able to pull off the gold shade neatly. As of now, I don't think the Sonet is one of them. The shade doesn't augment the car's overall shape well.

[PKH]

Booked the KIA Sonet for an amount of 25,000/- INR in Kollam Kerala. Variant / Engine / option undecided just want an automatic. The SA claims that they have received around 12 pre-bookings for the car already. Heart says 1.0 7-Speed DCT where the SA said would be in the range of 15 Lakhs on road for the top end GT line.

Comes with a 5 year unlimited KM Waranty the SA just comeback from product training and did explain all features and trims available and said the automatics are only available in 1.0 L Petrol and 1.5 L diesel

UVO has all functions available in Seltos plus 4 more, the front door has space for umbrella with drain pipe and wireless charging station with cooling function sounded well thought functions.

[kkstile]

The only thing which remains to be seen are the NCAP crash test ratings for the Sonet. In general does the car's platform matter in terms of body stiffness and overall build quality and crash-worthiness? For example the EcoSport is based on Ford’s global B platform (same as the Fiesta) which I assume is larger than K1 platform (introduced in new Santro) which forms the basis for Venue and now Sonet.

In Indian road conditions and bumper-to-bumper traffic the overall build quality to withstand small bumps and nicks also matter. And does rear mounted spare increase safety for rear passengers? Ecosport definitely "feels" safer and better compared to Hyundai Venue.

[carriage.retorq]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

I was offered an Ecosport Diesel Sports version with 6 years warranty for 12.75L OTR, Kolkata.

Sorry for going OT, but it pains me every-time I see OTR prices in other states.
In Bangalore EcoSport S OTR is 14.7L, a whopping 2 lakh difference from WB.

So, a 14 Lakh OTR Sonet in Kolkata would be in the 16 lakh range in Karnataka.

But what am i crying about?, with extra road tax we also get the "best" quality roads in the country.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Except the Champaign gold like shade, I liked all. The gold one looks too light or too cheesy depending on lighting conditions. Very few cars of today are able to pull off the gold shade neatly. As of now, I don't think the Sonet is one of them. The shade doesn't augment the car's overall shape well.

In fact, I think Kia should have been innovative and offered a different palette of colours for the Sonet. These colours makes it look like its 80% Seltos , especially when the size difference isnt huge. This wouldn't be good for the Seltos going forward I suppose.Also, higher variants of Sonet will cannibalise lower trims of the Seltos. If my budget was 13-15 lac, I'd go with a 100Bhp Sonet diesel than a 115bhp Seltos diesel for example. Also, the 1.0 turbo would be equal or better than the 1.5 NA petrol. So that leaves the Seltos with only the 1.4 Turbo petrol as a USP. (Assuming that safety features like 6 airbags, ESP will be available in high variants of Sonet).

[SoumenD]

So came across the Kia Sonet on airport road in Bangalore. Unlike the videos or pictures online, found it really underwhelming. I almost overlooked the car for some hatchback and not even a good looking one at that. Interiors am sure would be great but exteriors of this car don't have the presence of Nexon/XUV3OO/Ecosport. They look much better & bigger in flesh IMO.

[Venkatesh]

Kia Sonet spied near Bangalore Airport







https://www.rushlane.com/kia-sonet-b...-12355288.html

[southpawPrash]

The Kia Sonet will definitely be small in size, just like the Venue. I'm assuming the dimensions would be almost identical to that of Venue.

Here are the dimensions of some other cars for the sake of comparison. I've attempted to order them by their perceived size, or 'presence' -
1. Seltos: 4,315 mm L x 1,800 mm W x 1,620-1,630 mm H
2. Creta: 4,300 mm L x 1,790 mm W x 1,620-1,635 mm H
3. XUV 300: 3,995 mm L x 1,821 mm W x 1,627 mm H
4. Nexon: 3,993 mm L x 1,811 mm W x 1,606 mm H
5. Ecosport: 3,998 mm L x 1,765 mm W x 1,647 mm H
6. Venue: 3,995 mm L x 1,770 mm W x 1,590 mm H

The XUV 300 and Nexon get their strong presence due to their width, while Ecosport gets its presence because of height and the spare wheel on the rear.

[southpawPrash]

With regards to safety, if we assume Sonet's build quality to be more or less equal to Venue then the top variant with 6 six-airbags is a safe car. Venue received 4-stars in the ANCAP which is actually more stringent than the GNCAP. Venue actually scored 91% on adult protection and 81% on child protection. However, these high scores were with 6 airbags. The GNCAP tests the lowest variants, so a 5-star on GNCAP would be unlikely for the Sonet. If you are worried about safety but don't want to go for a top trim with six-airbags, then XUV300 and Nexon are solid choices.

One interesting question that I had considered around safety was which would be safer - Nexon with 2 airbags or Venue with 6 airbags? After some reading, here's my take - In a head-on collision between six-airbag Venue and 2 airbag Nexon, the Nexon would win. When it comes to safety, one thing that really helps is the weight of the car. Nexon being heavier will kind of just stand in place whereas the Venue will go flying. Although that's an exaggeration, you get the point. Let's consider the side-collision scenario. If Nexon hits Venue on the side, then Venue may go flying but the passengers inside would probably escape without major injuries as the airbags would cushion the blow. However, if a Venue hits Nexon on the side, then it could go either way. It's possible that the Nexon manages to absorb most of the impact and the passengers have minor injuries, but it's also possible that the passengers suffer a major injury(perhaps to the head) as there's nothing to cushion the blow except for the seat-belts. Especially if you have a child in the car, having side-airbags that drop downwards would be safer and give you some peace of mind. Note that Nexon scored 3 stars in child safety.

Having said that, the XUV300 with the 6 airbags is definitely the most safe car in the segment. No competition.

Here's my attempt at ranking some of the cars in the segment by perceived overall safety -
1. XUV300 (6 airbags)
2. Ecosport (6 airbags)
3. Venue/Sonet (6 airbags)
4. XUV300 (2 airbags)
5. Nexon (2 airbags)
6. Ecosport (2 airbags)
7. Venue/Sonet (2 airbags)

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by southpawPrash

Venue received 4-stars in the ANCAP which is actually more stringent than the GNCAP. Venue actually scored 91% on adult protection and 81% on child protection.

Not commenting on the rest of your analysis. But would like to point out that the Venue in India is completely different underneath from the Venue sold abroad.

A fellow Team BHP member has elaborated on this point.

Originally Posted by Surya-TJet

While this NCAP rating is really good; the question that is at the back of my mind is this:

The Hyundai Venue tested in NCAP was based on the Accent (Verna in India) platform.

Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Venue

The Hyundai Venue made in India is based on the Santro platform (which has scored only a 2 star crash safety rating).

Link: https://auto.ndtv.com/news/all-hyund...1-2019-2074135

So, I would not directly take these NCAP results as applicable for India. If any BHP-ians or insiders know better; please do update on this.

As we have earlier seen in the Renault Captur's case; this too should not be a falsified claim of sorts.

Cheers & Safe Driving

You can read more about it if you like here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...cap-tests.html (Hyundai Venue gets 4 stars in ANCAP tests)