Competition in the midsize sedan segment in India has been heating up in the past months with Volkswagen giving the Vento another update and Skoda bringing in the facelift for its ageing Rapid. The current segment leaders, the Honda City and Maruti Ciaz are set to receive facelifts soon which will include more equipment and tweaked styling.
With nearly the entire segment set to undergo an overhaul, Hyundai is working towards keeping an all-new Verna ready for launch in the latter half of the year. The carmaker plans to keep the model fresh and running to establish it as a segment leader.
Recently revealed in Russia, following its global debut in China last year, the car features minor cosmetic changes down to new bumpers, different alloy wheels and a tweaked bootlid from the car revealed last year. The interior of both cars, however, were near identical with a common layout and a few extra switches on the centre console.
The exterior and interior of the India-spec car is expected to have styling similar to that of the car revealed in Russia. Hyundai, however, will be using a dual-tone beige interior to enhance the sedan’s appeal amongst buyers.
The Indian car is not expected to be a slouch in terms of equipment either, with Hyundai expected to offer a choice of touchscreens – similar to that on the Creta, a 5.0 inch on the mid variants and a 7.0 inch with navigation on the top – steering-mounted controls for audio and Bluetooth, climate control and push-button start. Higher variants are even likely to come with bigger alloy wheels and a sunroof.
While the models revealed online only featured petrol motors, the Verna for India is expected to carry forward the current range of 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines with the addition of Hyundai’s mild-hybrid technology which is similar to Maruti’s SHVS system.