Like many other brands, Hyundai has an internationally difficult model range. It sells the Accent in various markets with other model names, local versions that sometimes differ in appearance. Today we shed a light on the Verna, a compact sedan of which the Indian variant has now been facelifted.
Hyundai’s international model range includes the Accent, a compact model which, depending on the market, is available as a hatchback, sedan and station wagon. Although the car has the famous name Accent on its rear in the United States and elsewhere, the car is known in China as Verna and in Russia as Solaris. That Russian Solaris was facelifted earlier this year and the Chinese Verna also went under the knife not long ago. During that punctuation session, the Chinese Verna was fitted with a strongly deviating front and rear that differ from the Solaris and Accent. With this, Hyundai responds to the taste of the Chinese consumer, a strategy that Hyundai already pursued in developing the Chinese version of the Tucson and the Santa Fe. In this article, another facelifted Verna is discussed, this time not the Chinese, but the Indian variant.
The facelifted Chinese Verna
Although the compact sedan has the same name in India and China, the Indian Verna, after its facelift, is very similar to the most recent version of the already mentioned Russian Solaris. The Indian Verna, which is therefore right hand drive, benefits from the same new lighting, grille and bumpers that Hyundai already applied to its Russian family member. However, the Indian Verna is richly supplied with chrome-colored plastic all around. The shiny silver-colored material is used in the grille, in the bumpers and at the bottom of the windows.
The old atmospheric 1.4 and 1.6 are cut from the delivery list and make way for a likewise atmospheric 1.5, a four-cylinder that generates 115 and is linked to a six-speed manual gearbox. This engine must tolerate the 1.0 T-GDI known here, a 120 hp three-cylinder that can be linked to a seven-speed automatic. Diesel is possible with a 115 hp 1.5 CRDi. The outgoing version of the Verna changes ownership in India from around € 7,300. The price of the renewed Verna is not yet known.
Last year, 28,190 Vernas sold over the counter in India, 34 percent less than the 42,605 sold in 2018. The Verna itself cannot be fully blamed for that drop in sales. In India, 2.9 million cars were sold last year, 12 percent less than in 2018. In addition, the Verna is suffering from the arrival of the Venue, a compact crossover that no fewer than 70,443 customers knocked on the door of Hyundai last year. dealer. In India, the Verna will compete with the Honda City, a Jazz-based sedan that sold 28,696 units in India last year, 32 percent less than the year before.