Hyundai has been working on the refreshed Verna for quite some time. Today, a first set of images of the updated car have surfaced online, originating from China. The updated Verna’s styling brings the car more in line with the newer Hyundai models sold abroad, like the latest-gen Sonata, the refreshed Elantra and the Ioniq.
We reported back in August 2018 that the new Verna will get extensive updates and will look almost like a “new car.” These images confirm that the new Verna’s front styling now gets a more aggressive and edgy design as compared to its predecessor. Up front, the car now sees a wider and sleeker iteration of the trademark cascade grille with much larger headlamps that sort of merge with the grille. The headlamps itself have quite a bit of detail now with three different sections divided by chrome outlines that feature separate enclosures for the projector headlamp, the parking lamp and the turn indicator. The bumper gets an all-new design too, with a mix of black plastic and satin grey bits.
Moving on to the sides, the new Verna will get new alloy wheel designs with the higher variants getting diamond-cut dual-tone alloy wheels with a similar look as is seen on the Venue sold in India and the new ix25 SUV sold in China. At the back, the new Verna again gets major changes. The boot design is all new; and so is the taillight cluster connected via a thin LED strip that runs across the car’s width. The license plate enclosure is now placed a bit lower but still on the boot. The new Verna’s rear bumper also gets rectangular, vertically placed reflectors and a wide faux-diffuser, replete with a satin aluminium trim.
On the inside, expect Hyundai to add more features to the Verna and a touchscreen system similar to that which will come on the Elantra facelift in India. Additionally, the new Verna will also get the connected-car features that were launched on the Venue compact SUV.
Under the hood, the refreshed Hyundai Verna for India will come with a new set of 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engine options. These new units will be BS6-compliant and will also be seen on duty in other Hyundai models like the next-gen Creta as well as the refreshed Elantra. These are the same set of engines that will also power the soon-to-be-launched Kia Seltos SUV. The new 1.5-litre diesel engine on the refreshed Verna will see its output go down from 128hp to 115hp, while the torque figure too will downgrade from 260Nm to 250Nm. The new Verna’s 1.5-litre petrol engine will also be packaged to take a 48V hybrid system and be future-ready. However it remains to be seen whether this system is an option in the facelift.
There is no confirmation on whether the India-spec Verna would get similar looks, however considering Hyundai’s global design strategy; we don’t expect the India-spec car to look much different than the one seen in these spy shots.
The refreshed Hyundai Verna will see competition from the likes of the all-new Honda City that is also due next year, along with key rivals like the Maruti Ciaz, Toyota Yaris, Skoda Rapid and the Volkswagen Vento. Expect Hyundai to introduce the refreshed Verna in India sometime in second half of 2020.
Hyundai is currently readying the market launch of its all-new Grand i10 premium hatchback that will see a price announcement next month. The company is also in final stages of testing the next-gen i20, which is expected to see a global debut soon.
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