The Kia Sonet. It’s never been a particularly good-looking or attractive compact SUV, and neither has it been a top-notch performer when it comes to pleasing the driver. But when it was launched in 2020, it made huge waves in the Indian market, largely due to its lucrative feature offerings that left its competitors red-faced, and an array of powertrain options/configurations. Even though the Seltos, Sonet’s elder sibling, continues to be the best-selling Kia in India, the Sonet has managed to penetrate the market effectively and made a place of its own.
However, amid ever-growing competition in the segment that includes a potent and recently facelifted rival from Kia’s parent company, the Hyundai Venue, the Sonet has also received a facelift that claims to be a significant improvement over the outgoing model. It offers new styling, more premium features (some of them even segment-firsts, but more on that later), a revised interior with new HVAC switchgear and more digital real estate, and more colour/style options for the cabin upholstery – a recipe that Kia thinks will help let the Sonet remain a formidable force in the segment.
Well, first impressions from the outside? The fresh styling works. The pre-facelift version wasn’t very pleasing to the eye, but the new one looks considerably better. The new face, with the L-shaped DRLs and a chiselled bumper, gives the Sonet a much-needed butch factor that now justifies its ‘SUV’ tag (to an extent). There is not much to talk about the side view, as it’s more or less the same. However, Kia has introduced up to three new alloy wheel options across the model line-up to amp up each trim’s aesthetics. At the back, an LED light bar connecting the new vertically-oriented tail lamps makes the 2024 Sonet look similar to other Kia models, like the Carens and the Seltos. While it’s in line with the brand’s design philosophy, it feels a bit like the Sonet has lost its individuality. A particular eyesore on the pre-facelift version, the black-coloured plastic insert adjoining the rear glass, has also been redesigned and looks much more bearable now.
The test car we got was the top-spec diesel automatic variant of the GT Line. Inside, the user experience has improved dramatically, courtesy of a 10.25-inch infotainment screen (same as before) that gets a much better interface than before, a new 10.25-inch instrument cluster borrowed from the Seltos that looks crisp and adds to the premium quotient of the vehicle, and the addition of a few creature comforts like an air purifier (with adjustable fan speed), a four-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and manual sun blinds for the rear windows (the last one being a segment-first).
So, while the user experience has improved, unfortunately, quite a few areas that needed attention have been overlooked yet again. For example, the seats look nice in the piped-design leatherette upholstery, but they are still as firm as before and are not as plush or comfortable as, say, of the Tata Nexon (compared based on user experience). Kia claims they have tried to make the rear row of seats more accommodating by extending the length of the seat squab a bit and scooping out the front seat backs, but the rear seat experience remains pretty much the same as before – a bit claustrophobic. Another aspect where the Sonet under-delivered is the ride quality. It’s had a notorious reputation for being quite firm, and the story remains the same this time too, even though folks from Kia confirmed that the suspension has been re-tuned. However, this issue can be circumvented to an extent by switching to softer rubber – the current MRF Wanderer tyres do not aid the ride quality in any way.
Coming to the driving performance, again, it’s a missed opportunity. The 1.5-litre diesel engine with the six-speed torque converter automatic still feels sluggish, and the only respite comes from switching into the Sport drive mode that dials the throttle response and gear shifts up a notch. Mind you, the powertrain is smooth in its operation – this can be said for the engine and the gearbox – but it just lacks the punch one would usually expect from a diesel. For its size and weight, the Sonet can do with much more oomph. This shortfall mars the entire driving experience even more because dynamically, the Sonet is quite sorted – it handles well around corners, the steering is well-weighted, and it now gets disc brakes on all four wheels that add to the stopping power.
In conclusion, the Sonet has become a better product overall without a doubt – it looks nicer, a tad more butch, feels more premium from the inside and also gets a suite of Level-1 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). While our short drive this time did not allow us to test the ADAS features to the hilt, we shall reserve judgement on them for later. But barring all the new additions and revisions, with this facelift, we for sure would have liked to see improvements on the innate flaws of the Sonet, which remain still.