Hyundai Verna Facelift to be in showrooms by Mid February

The facelifted Hyundai Verna sedan could be in showrooms by the middle of February, 2015. The car, badged the Solaris in Russia, received a facelift in that part of the world last year. Following the advent of new competition in India in the form of the Honda City and more recently, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the Verna’s sales have witnessed a downward slide.

In order to arrest this decline and ensure that the Verna remains relevant in India’s C-Segment sedan space, Hyundai is keen on rolling out a facelift for the car. Over the past few months, the South Korean automaker has been spotted testing the car on Indian roads. Till a year ago, the Verna Fluidic was India’s best selling C-Segment sedan.

Hyundai’s Upcoming Cars for India in 2015

Coming to the changes that the facelift will effect, the front and rear styling of the Verna will see revisions. Minor changes will also be made to the interiors of the car. In terms of new features, the Verna Facelift is expected to receive few additions. Likewise, mechanical changes on the car are likely to be few and far in between.

For instance, the Russia-spec Solaris has gained a new 6 speed automatic gearbox on the 1.6 liter petrol powered variants. This is a change that is likely to be rolled out onto the India-spec Verna Facelift as well. However, it remains to be seen whether the 1.6 liter CRDI diesel engined variant also gets a bump up in the number of cogs that its automatic gearbox offers.

Hyundai Verna Facelift – Additional Images

The Verna sold in India is currently available with four engines, two in petrol displacing 1.4 liters and 1.6 liters, and two in diesel, displacing 1.4 liters and 1.6 liters. The larger engined petrol and diesel motors get manual and automatic transmission options, with the smaller engines making do with manual gearboxes. Status quo is likely to be maintained on the engines front.

The Hyundai car’s competition in the C-Segment sedan territory has gotten larger both figuratively and literally, leaving the Verna at a significant disadvantage as far as back seat comfort is concerned. Therefore, a price hike for the facelifted model is not likely. Instead, the car is expected to peddle a “value for money” appeal by offering more for less.

Via Overdrive