The new Sonet would have a better resale value than the outgoing model
Some really interesting data has surfaced ahead of the India debut of the facelifted Kia Sonet. Frost & Sullivan India conducted a benchmark analysis on the Total Cost Of Ownership of compact SUVs. The report shows Kia Sonet to have the lowest maintenance cost in its segment.
Kia Sonet is available with a total of three engines- 1.2L NA petrol, 1.0L turbo petrol and 1.5L diesel. The Frost and Sullivan report states that the maintenance costs of a petrol Sonet are 16% less than the segment average, while those of the diesel Sonets are 14% lower than other diesels of the segment.
The Sonet is a winner in the Total Cost of Ownership as well, with the petrol model having 4% lower TCO than the segment average, while the diesel achieves a 10% lower number. This makes the diesel Sonet one of the most value-for-money packages in the space.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the scheduled maintenance cost of Diesel Sonet is 17% lower than the closest competitor and 23% lower than the segment average. On the other hand, the cost of scheduled maintenance for Petrol Sonet is 7% and 28%, respectively, lower than the nearest competitor and other competition models.
The report further states that the Sonet has the highest residual value in the compact SUV space. Both the diesel and petrol models have 3% higher residual values than most of the competitors.
The analysis also confirms that the IAC, Financing and Insurance costs for both models are below the segment average.
Launched in September 2020 in India, Kia Sonet has sold more than 3.65 Lakh units so far in both domestic and export markets. The 2024 Kia Sonet facelift, packing a bunch of changes, is expected to make its debut in December, 2023.
