Hyundai Motor is gearing up to unveil the heavily updated Verna sedan at Auto Expo 2020. The refreshed Hyundai Verna will share the stage with the all-new Creta and the updated Hyundai Tucson, which will also be showcased for the first time in India at the motor show.
The Verna facelift was first shown at the Chengdu Motor show in China, last year in September. The 2020 Verna’s styling brings the car more in-line with newer Hyundai models sold abroad, like the latest-gen Sonata, the refreshed Elantra (already on sale in India) and the recently updated Ioniq, to name a few. The new Verna’s front styling now has a more aggressive and edgy look as compared to its predecessor, with wider and sleeker iteration of the trademark ‘cascading grille’ that gets chrome trim. Additionally, the new Verna comes with much larger headlights, with crystal-effect inserts and chrome outlines demarcating three sections – the projector headlamp, the parking lamp and the turn indicator. The front bumper design has been tweaked and now comes with a mix of black plastic and satin grey bits. New alloy wheel designs – higher variants get diamond-cut dual-tone rims – are also among the many changes.
The new Verna’s rear end also sees major revisions. The boot and tail-light cluster design are completely redone – the former gets a thin LED strip that runs between the latter. The license plate is now placed a bit lower but is still on the boot, while the rear bumper also gets rectangular, vertically placed reflectors and a dual-tone faux-diffuser, replete with a satin aluminium trim.
The model that was unveiled in China is actually longer than its predecessor by around 25mm, thanks to the styling tweaks. The car that’s coming to India is expected to be more or less similar in terms of design and dimensions.
As far as the interior goes, the big news is the inclusion of a digital instrument cluster, which will soon become a common feature on upcoming Hyundai models. We were the first to report that the next-gen Hyundai i20 will come with this feature, as will the 2020 Creta. Additionally, Hyundai is also expected to equip the refreshed Verna with a slightly larger 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system that comes with a better interface than the current model’s 7.0-inch unit. The Hyundai BlueLink connected car tech will also be included on the updated Verna. For now, this feature is only available on the Hyundai Venue and the recently launched Hyundai Elantra facelift.
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 see duty under the bonnets of other Hyundai models, like the new Creta and the refreshed Elantra. The same set of engines also powers the 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 260Nmto 250Nm. While the new Verna’s 1.5-litre petrol engine is packaged to take on a 48V mild-hybrid system, it remains to be seen whether it will be offered an option with the facelift.
While Hyundai will only showcase the updated Verna at Auto Expo 2020, we expect it to be available in showrooms around April 2020, just in time to rival the all-new Honda City that is also expected to come to India around the same time period. The new model will also rival the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Skoda Rapid, Volkswagen Vento and the recently-updated Toyota Yaris.
Stocks of the current pre-facelift Verna are almost depleted at most outlets. Sources tell us, the model will get a BS6 petrol engine soon and will be sold as a petrol-only model until the updated car arrives a little later.
Also see:
Next-gen Hyundai i20 India launch in June 2020