Kia QYI / Sonet Design Revealed - Confirmed For Auto Expo 2020 Debut

by Mahesh Yadav on Friday, Jan 24 2020

Kia has revealed the front and rear design of its upcoming sub-4m SUV codenamed QYI. Rumours are floating that it could be called Kia Sonet. Kia also confirmed that it’ll showcase this subcompact SUV at the Auto Expo 2020.

The official design sketches of the 2020 Kia sub-4m SUV reveal that it will get roof rails and a prominent D pillar. The rear end will get a red light strip running across the entire boot lid of the car from left to right. The alloy wheels will also get red accents as available in the Kia Seltos GT variants. Other than that, the usual bits we expect from a car of this class are obviously going to be there. So, it should also come with LED front and rear lights, LED DRLs, sunroof and lots of body cladding.

Kia’s sub-4m SUV will go on sale sometime in 2020 and is the third car in India from Kia Motors after the Seltos compact SUV and Carnival luxury MPV.

Read more: 2020 Kia Carnival Review | Limousine Variant Driven

This new SUV will most likely share its underpinnings with the Hyundai Venue, which is a great starting point as the Venue itself is a successful car. So expect it to come with a 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine paired with a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. This engine will make 120PS of power at 6000rpm and 172Nm of torque between 1500 and 4000rpm. The Kia SUV could also get the 1.2-litre normal petrol engine and 5-speed manual transmission. This combo is available in the Hyundai Venue’s lower variants. That engine is good for 83PS of power at 6000rpm and 115Nm of torque at 4000rpm.

There’s still no clarity about which diesel engine will come under the hood of this upcoming Kia SUV. Hyundai hasn’t clarified if it’ll upgrade the 1.4-litre diesel engine to BS6 standards or not. However, the two cars may get the 1.5-litre diesel engine from the Seltos with lower power output.

In India, the QYI’s production version will rival the likes of the Hyundai Venue, 2020 Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, 2020 Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300. It is likely to be priced in the same range as the Venue, prices of which start at Rs 6.55 lakh and go up to Rs 10.89 lakh (ex-showroom).

If you like to have a service outlet within reach, then you’d be glad to know that Kia currently has a total of 265 sales/service outlets in 160 cities including tier-3 cities. The number is still not as close as Maruti Suzuki’s or even Hyundai’s but for a growing car manufacturer, it’s a good start. As Kia continues to bring newer cars to India, the number of sales and service outlets is also likely to increase proportionately.