Kia Sonet compact SUV could get manual transmission option on the 1-litre turbo-petrol variant

Kia Sonet | Rs 6.71 lakh | The newest compact SUV in the market, the Kia Sonet has been doing amazingly well in the Indian market. With a variety of engine and transmission options to choose from, the Kia Sonet packs in more tech than the IT guy along with seating and space for everyone.

Following up on the success of the Kia Seltos, Kia Motors just launched the Sonet compact SUV. The car gets a load of engine options as well as gearbox options but what was missing is the a manual gearbox in the 1-litre turbo-petrol motor.

At the moment, Kia offers the turbo-petrol with two gearbox options, an automatic and an iMT. The iMT, Kia says, will be the transmission of the future. It integrates the fun of shifting using a gear stick with the convenience of a clutchless automatic.

In an iMT transmission the computers judges when you are about to shift and into which gear and disengages the clutch when required. All the driver is required to do at this point is move the gear stick into the position he wishes. This takes away the pain of having to feather a clutch especially when stuck in traffic.

As for a fully manual gearbox, Kia is not averse to the idea. In a report on Autocar India, head of sales and marketing at Kia Motors India, Manohar Bhat said, “Kia is committed to providing customer-centric solutions, and if the market demands a manual gearbox with the 1.0 Turbo, we will not hold ourselves back from offering it. As of now, we will look at the response from our consumers.”

At the moment, Hyundai already offers a manual gearbox on the 1-litre turbo-petrol variant of the Venue, the natural rival to the Sonet. The Kia Sonet currently has an introductory starting price of Rs 6.71 lakh.