New Delhi: On September 18 this year, the Kia Sonet turned two years old. On 18 September 2020, Kia launched its first compact SUV in India at an introductory price of Rs 671,000, ex-showroom in six trim levels, spread across the Tech Line and GT Line variants.

It is commendable that despite being launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, Sonet crossed the 100,000 units mark on 14 September 2021, 261 days or less than a year after its launch.

According to a data analysis by Autocar Professonal, Kia India sold a total of 173,392 units between September 2020 and the end of August 2022.

In the first five months of fiscal year 2023 (April-August 2022), Sonet received 35,811 home buyers, average monthly sales of 7,162 units or 238 units per day. This means that the 175,000 mark would be crossed in the first week of September 2022.

Available in 16 variants including nine petrol and seven diesel variants, the Sonet is the only compact SUV to offer a 1.5-litre diesel engine with automatic transmission.

At over 32%, the Sonet is the second best contributor, after the Seltos, to Kia India’s sales. It has led to the adoption of iMT technology in India and 25% of Sonet buyers prefer their SUV to be equipped with iMT. In April this year, the automaker added four airbags as standard across even the lower variants.

The two most preferred colors for Sonet are Glacier White Pearl and Aurora Black Pearl, accounting for 44% of total shipments.

Kia India is constantly refreshing the Sonet in an effort to maintain sales momentum. In May 2021, it launched the updated Sonet with the most popular HTX trim available with automatic options – HTX 7DCT (1.0T-GDI Petrol) and HTX 6AT (1.5 Diesel).