Reference Auto

With Toyota Etios stealing the show in the Rs 6 lakh-Rs 8 lakh car segment in India and with Mahindra also recently renaming the Logan as Verito after the company parted ways with partner Renault on the Logan project, Hyundai has decided to rev up in the C segment, rolling out its all new Verna with a completely refurbished look in a bid to shed the tag of a small-car maker.

Prices of the all new Verna begin from Rs 6.99 lakh for the base petrol version and touch Rs 10.74 lakh for the 1.6 litre diesel automatic.

The all new Verna has a litany of striking features. It comes with an engine start/stop button, rear parking camera as well as sensors, auto dim rear view mirrors and dual chrome-tipped exhausts.

It is also high on safety: it has six airbags and comes with impact-sensing auto door unlock technology.

The Korean company is offering customers a gamut of four models: two diesel and two petrol versions.

The base model petrol engine is a 1.4-litre Gamma unit producing 108 PS and 135 Nm torque at 5,000 rpm and the 1.6-litre engine will offer 123 PS and 154 Nm torque at 4,200 rpm.

The diesel variants will have capacities similar to the petrol ones with the 1.4-litre unit producing 90 PS and 220 Nm torque between 1,750-2,750 rpm. The 1.6-litre car will come with 128 PS and 259 Nm of torque between 1,900-2,750 rpm.

The new Verna’s wheelbase is broader than the older one by 70 mm at 2,570 mm and is 18 mm longer than the Volkswagen Vento, the current leader in the C segment. The new Verna is also more spacious than the previous model.

Hyundai is not only giving customers a choice between two fuel types but also a chance to pick the fuel efficiencies they would like.

For the 1.4-litre petrol model, fuel efficiency is 17.43 km a litre while the 1.6-litre petrol version has a fuel efficiency of 17.01 km a litre. The diesel models are highly fuel efficient: The 1.4-litre model offers 23.5 km a litre and the 1.6-litre diesel variant gives 22.32 km a litre.

The previous version of the Verna had not actually spurred Hyundai’s earnings and the company has made a smart move to give the Verna a new lease of life. The new Verna has been designed keeping in mind Hyundai’s design theme known as Fluidic Sculpture.

The new Verna, with Hyundai’s new Fluidic Sculpture design, is one of the most impressive designs in recent years. The Verna comes with a coupe-like side profile with a hexagonal grille, eagle-eye headlamps and L-shaped fog lamps in front.

With the pricing (of the new Verna), Hyundai hopes to give Volkswagen’s Vento and Maruti Suzuki’s SX4 a run for their money. In fact, the Korean giant hopes to sell 45,000 units of the new Verna in the first year itself.

Speaking during the launch, SS Yang, Hyundai Motor’s global president and CEO, said Hyundai hopes to launch its entire range in the country in a bid to become a major contender in the big-cars market.

Hyundai is surely waiting with baited breath to see how the launch of the new Verna pans out, and if successful, it could pave the way for the Korean major to shed the tag of a small car manufacturer and look beyond.