The Kia Sonet has been well received by the Indian masses which was evident by it crossing the 1 lakh unit sales milestone, within a year. And now for the first anniversary, Kia has introduced a new variant HTX AE. The Sonet Anniversary Edition is based on the mid-variant HTX and has a new style scheme with tangerine accents on the body.
The design has been inspired by an extinct ox, called the Aurochs, so for that, the front and rear skid plates along with the side skirts has been redesigned. Upfront it has Kia’s tiger-nose grille with tangerine accents and an ‘Anniversary Edition’ badge on the left side of it. The radiator grille is also similar to that of the GT with tangerine garnishing. And lastly, the centre wheel caps are also in tangerine tone. With all of this, the AE is available in four colour options — Aurora Black pearl, Glacier white pearl, Steel silver and Gravity grey. Though, the HTX variant on which the AE is based has seven colour options on offer.
The interiors of the AE is the same as the standard HTX variant. It has semi leatherette seats with Silver stitching in contrasting beige and black tones. The leatherette is also shrouded on the steering wheel, gear knob and door handles. In terms of features, there is an 8-inch infotainment display with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay along with wireless phone projection. There is an electric sunroof as well. On the creature comforts front, it has all-electric power windows, tilt-adjustable steering, remote engine start-stop and cruise control. Additionally, there are a handful of optional features available. So you can pay a bit extra for features like three traction modes (Sand, Mud and Wet), drive modes — Normal, Eco, and Sports and lastly, paddle shifters.
The AE is mechanically the same as the HTX variant. Meaning it can be had with both 1-litre petrol T-GDi engine and the 1.5-litre CRDi engine. The petrol engine comes mated Hyundai’s 6-speed iMT and 7-speed DCT while the diesel engine has a 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic on offer. The powertrain option for the AE dictates the prices, which we will see next.
The prices start at Rs 10.79 lakh ex-showroom and, based on the powertrain, it will go up. So, the petrol engine with iMT is the most accessible variant here and the diesel manual is one rung up in the pricing at Rs 11.09 lakh. Moving on to the automatics, the petrol with DCT costs Rs 11.49 lakh and lastly, the diesel manual is the most expensive one here with a price tag of Rs 11.89 lakh. As for the rivals, the Sonet rivals the Mahindra XUV300, Maruti-Suzuki Vitara Brezza, and the Tata Nexon.