Kia says its SUV Sonet has crossed 1.5 lakh sales milestone in less than 2 yrs since debut

Kia India on Monday said that its compact SUV model, the Kia Sonet, has surpassed the 1.5 lakh sales milestone. The vehicle accomplished this feat in just under two years since its debut in the Indian auto market.

The Kia Sonet model contributes over 32 per cent of Kia India’s total sales. Regarded as one of the most popular automotive models in its sector, the company said that the car continues to command a considerable market share of 15 per cent in the highly competitive compact SUV segment in the country. Even promisingly, the Sonet democratised and accelerated the adoption of intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) technology in India, establishing market favorability and resulting in 25 per cent of Sonet buyers opting for a car with iMT, Kia claimed.

"We are delighted that Sonet has added 1.5 lakh customers to the Kia India family. Today's evolved urban Indian customer is dynamic, tech-savvy, and bold, and we are incredibly proud to have developed a product that has proven to be the right companion for them. The Sonet has won several accolades not only for its design, performance, and practicality but also by creating favourability for iMT and introducing the only Diesel AT in the segment. In April this year, we added 4 airbags as standard across even the lower variants of Sonet, further enhancing the vehicle's safety and propelling its popularity," Myung-sik Sohn, Chief Sales Officer at Kia India, said while commenting on the accomplishment.

The company further announced that the customers of the Sonet model have shown a strong preference for the vehicle's top variants, accounting for 26 per cent of overall sales. The vehicle’s ever-rising sales reflect the increased desire for automatic transmission, with 22 per cent of consumers preferring their vehicles with automatic transmission. The Sonet is also extremely popular with diesel engines, which account for a healthy 41 per cent of the overall matrix, the company claimed in its press release. 

The model’s two most popular colours are Glacier White Pearl and Aurora Black Pearl, accounting for roughly 44 per cent of all dispatches, as reported by the company.

Indian subsidiary of this South Korean automobile manufacturer sold 18,718 units in the month of May 2022, comfortably registering a year-to-date (YTD) increase of 19 per cent. In May's sales report Sonet was the highest contributor to the company's overall sales with 7,899 units of the car being sold in the country. This was followed by Seltos with 5,953 units, Carens with 4,612 units, and Carnival with 239 units.

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