Korean automobile giant Kia first showcased the Sonet SUV at the 2020 Auto Expo. The 2020 Kia Sonet is the marquee’s third offering in India, coming right after the Carnival. The Sonet is a compact SUV entering in the competitive compact SUV segment and Kia is aiming to connect with this section of the market.

Kia will be unveiling the 2020 Sonet on August 7, 2020 (as mentioned on its official website) and with that bookings will also start somewhere around mid-August. It is expected to hit the showrooms with an official launch in September 2020 along with pricing and other details.

Kia is planning big with the Sonet for the targeted competitive segment in the Indian automobile market. And with plans, it brings some big targets for in-house sales & exports. As sources suggest, Kia is fixing a target of 1,00,000 units to be sold on the Indian soil in its first year along with an additional 50,000 units for exports.

Though it is too early to say anything about its equipment & features, the India-bound 2020 Kia Sonet is expected to bring a plethora of features with it to compete in the competitive compact SUV segment. Speculations point towards two packages, Tech Line & GT Line, similar to the Kia Seltos.

Along with these, the Sonet is expected to have a number of variants priced competitively against its competitors. It is too early to speculate on the features part but Kia’s UVO in-car connectivity tech can be expected along with some other unique features in its class.

Under the hood, the 2020 Kia Sonet is likely to offer an array of engine & gearbox options to choose from. This car is expected to bring a 1.2-litre petrol engine with M/T, a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol unit with M/T and dual-clutch A/T options and a 1.5-litre diesel engine with M/T and torque-converter A/T options. We are also expecting a clutchless manual option (iMT) with the 1.0-litre turbocharged-petrol engine, which made its debut with its rival & sibling, the Hyundai Venue.

2020 Kia Sonet will be manufactured in the Kia Motors Anantapur plant in Andhra Pradesh for both sale & export purposes. Also, this plant will be the only production unit for the Sonet globally, so we can expect a surge in the number of Sonet units being manufactured for both the purposes in the near future.

The above point connects well with the Kia’s USD 54 million (Rs 400 Crore) investment in the Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur plant, that was announced on May 28, 2020. This investment will increase the current production capacity of 3,00,000 units annually to around 4,00,000 – 4,50,000 units annually.