[SJN]

Following are the details about the feature and price changes in "Sonet Refresh"

[Aditya]

2022 Kia Sonet details leaked; to get 4 airbags as standard - Post moved to a new thread.

[JithinR]

So let me get this straight. These guys can add features like ESC, VSM, Side airbags in a segment that starts below 10L ex-showroom and still get record sales.

But they are afraid/not bothered to improve the chassis strength of the car and add another 20k - 30k to the list price and just get this thing a 5 star rating?

P.S. Though I am really glad that we can finally see electronic safety aids + multiple airbags in cars below 10L.

[TT-S]

Originally Posted by JithinR

they are afraid/not bothered to improve the chassis strength of the car and add another 20k - 30k to the list price and just get this thing a 5 star rating?

If they create a near perfect product, who'd buy their higher priced models? Those models would then need much bigger differentiating factors for people to purchase them while a lower priced near perfect product is already available.

Originally Posted by JithinR

Though I am really glad that we can finally see electronic safety aids + multiple airbags in cars below 10L.

I guess its just the OEMs getting ready to implement the 6 airbag rule which might get enforced later this year, than any other reason.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by JithinR

But they are afraid/not bothered to improve the chassis strength of the car and add another 20k - 30k to the list price and just get this thing a 5 star rating?

Good consumer-test safety performance (beyond regulation) is something that has to be part of development of a model from the start and not something that can be fixed just by using stronger steel. If it's a modular global platform then perhaps changes could be possible. Even silent ones, like the time Chevrolet tried it. Safety R&D is probably one of the biggest investments for a new model and some manufacturers cut down on it for India, but I think Kia is unlikely to do it again:
-They've faced tremendous social media pressure since the Seltos' result (which probably explains this move)
-Their marketing strategy relies on coming across as modern, and consumers know today that there's nothing modern about weak safety standards
-It's no longer just the enthusiasts who want a good consumer safety test result
-They know very well how to do it, until now they've just chosen not to because that's usually just been a habit for "India-strategic" models

[batish]

Alright, with the 6 airbag mandatory rule kicking in few months, aren't they supposed to upgrade this to 6 airbags, or am I missing something?

[CarguyNish]

Originally Posted by batish

Alright, with the 6 airbag mandatory rule kicking in few months, aren't they supposed to upgrade this to 6 airbags, or am I missing something?

I read that only 8 Seater Vehicles need to have 6 Airbags.

Kia offering Side & Curtain Airbags as standard is to overcome the bashing they received when the Seltos faired poorly. For many Indians, Additional Airbags mean more safer car. Maruti will also be taking advantage of this mindset when they launch updated XL6/Ertiga/Ciaz and new Gen Brezza.

[furyrider]

Originally Posted by CarguyNish

I read that only 8 Seater Vehicles need to have 6 Airbags.

I think the M1 category includes vehicles having up to 8 seats. This technically includes all 5-seater cars and 6/7-seater MPVs.

I've found the below definition from Vahan portal. Experts, please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

Category M1: Means a motor vehicle used for the carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat

Link

[sbm]

Originally Posted by ron178

, but I think Kia is unlikely to do it again:
-
-They know very well how to do it, until now they've just chosen not to because that's usually just been a habit for "India-strategic" models

I believe they have just added side airbags and ESC and haven't done any modifications to the platform. Seltos has already been tested and it's reputation spoiled (atleast for some) and unlikely to be tested again. Only option they have is to bring in the facelift with modified platform and sponsor a test. @ron do you think KIA or Hyundai might go to this extent to improve their image?

[H_Dogg72]

Unless it has a decent crash test rating all of this is snake oil

[sbm]

The problem is that no car in the 4.3m CSUV segment has been crash tested. What one can to is to choose the car/variant with maximum possible crash avoidance features and airbags. Moreover, I read somewhere on the forum that atleast Seltos is a known devil.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by sbm

Only option they have is to bring in the facelift with modified platform and sponsor a test. @ron do you think KIA or Hyundai might go to this extent to improve their image?

Ha, I don't know. they might silently make minor changes but unless they were engineered for good frontal performance we might have to wait until a new generation of Kias (maybe the Carens, not sure). What's also concerning is that both seem to have very poor communication with Global NCAP: they didn't even know what child seats to nominate for the Seltos and i10 Nios when they were informed they had been purchased for testing; same with recent Latin NCAP tests for the Tucson, Sportage and Accent. Sponsoring a test? Highly unlikely. The last time they sponsored anything with Global NCAP was the Rio Sedan for Latin America in 2017, and even then they took stupid corporate decisions like making a single seatbelt reminder standard instead of both, scoring two stars instead of a creditable three.

Originally Posted by CarguyNish

For many Indians, Additional Airbags mean more safer car.

Well, it's not wrong. The 'unstable passenger compartment = more airbags useless' narrative is grossly misguided because, firstly, in the frontal impact it's possible to have structure/footwell performance that's unstable but good (not the case with the Seltos' footwell however, which not only became unstable but collapsed), and secondly that modifier is exclusively for the frontal impact and doesn't reflect in other crashes. It's possible for instability or intrusion in the frontal impact to result from causes other than construction materials/welds, and it's also possible to have good construction specifically for either the front and side impact.

Yes, more airbags might not affect the rating but Global NCAP has been using fairly outdated 2013 Latin NCAP protocol in India which doesn't cover side impact, and no, that R95 side impact for five star cars is a very basic test that any car on sale in India since October 2019 should pass since the Government has applied it as a regulation. Regardless of whether you're in a three star car or a five star car you would be better off picking optional side torso and head airbags though it cannot compensate for a bad frontal impact.

That said, I'd be lying if I said I haven't questioned the performance of these optional airbags; hey, if you can't bother to invest in developing a car to perform well in a crash you know you might be tested for, it's hard to trust that the unrelated airbags have been tested to any meaningful standard. It's a wild accusation, but one can't help but wonder. The fact that they're adding just torso airbags as standard tells me there's a chance they're expecting high penetration in the side impact and trying to avoid a red chest, for example that happened with the Brazilian Hyundai HB20 in an audit test gone wrong and then they updated it with four standard airbags (still only torso airbags which is worse than all of its competition from Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Nissan and Honda).

[morphique]

I think their intent behind adding airbags is not safety, but just the upcoming mandate from government. They are doing it in instalment, just to avoid a steep price increase in one go. Since they are increasing the price every quarter, I'm sure they will use the next quarter to add the remaining two airbags along with the next price hike.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by morphique

I think their intent behind adding airbags is not safety, but just the upcoming mandate from government. They are doing it in instalment, just to avoid a steep price increase in one go. Since they are increasing the price every quarter, I'm sure they will use the next quarter to add the remaining two airbags along with the next price hike.

Kia, to their credit, have been more prompt than other manufacturers in terms of timeliness of compliance to norms manated by the government. They introduced BS6 engine-powered vehicles well before the mandatory transition date - The BS6 Seltos including the diesel version, was on sale by late 2019, although the mandatory transition date was April 1 2020. If I remember correctly, Jeep Compass Trailhawk was only other diesel BS6 vehicle to hit the market before the Seltos BS6 was launched.

As far as I know, the Carens is only vehicle in the sub 20 lakh segment to have 6 airbags as standard even from the lowest variant

[fhdowntheline]

C'mon- Kia. Can they not absorb some of that incremental cost from 20K and provide 6 airbags as standard ? It would make a great statement if the Sonet and Seltos get 6 airbags as standard, making Kia perhaps the only manufacturer with all models/variants in the mass consumer range having this feature.