Launched on September 18, 2020, Kia India’s first compact SUV has sold 451,014 units in the domestic market and over 100,000 have been shipped overseas. Since January 2024, when the second-gen Sonet was launched, it has been the company’s best-selling model.
17 Sep 2025 | 4533 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Launched on September 18, 2020, the Kia Sonet has turned five years old today. As per wholesale numbers from apex industry body SIAM, Kia India’s first compact SUV has sold over 450,000 units in the domestic market and more than 100,000 units as exports. While domestic sales till end-August 2025 ...
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Launched on September 18, 2020, the Kia Sonet has turned five years old today. As per wholesale numbers from apex industry body SIAM, Kia India’s first compact SUV has sold over 450,000 units in the domestic market and more than 100,000 units as exports. While domestic sales till end-August 2025 are 451,014 units, cumulative overseas shipments of the made-in-India Kia Sonet are 103,293 units till June 2025.
The Sonet drove past the 400,000 sales mark in India in February this year, 53 months after it was launched in September 2020. This means the last 50,000 units have been sold in a little over six months since.
The best monthly score yet has been in January 2024 (11,530 units) when the second-gen Sonet was launched, while September 2024 (10,335 units) is the second-best month.
The Sonet, along with the Seltos midsize SUV and the Carens MPV, has played a key role in Kia India’s strong ranking in the Indian utility vehicle industry – the Korean SUV and MPV maker is currently the sixth-ranked UV OEM.
In the current fiscal, between April-August 2025, Kia India has sold 108,306 utility vehicles, up 4% YoY (April-August 2024: 103,798 units) of which the Sonet accounts for the leading 35% share, followed by the Carens (34,493 units, 32% share) and Seltos (28,139 units, 26% share).
With cumulative sales of 451,014 units, the Sonet accounts for a 38% share of the 1.19 million utility vehicles Kia India has sold since the Sonet’s launch in September 2020.
The Sonet’s total numbers to date reflect its strong contribution to Kia India’s overall sales in the domestic market. Between September 2020 (when the Sonet was launched) and August 2025, the company has sold a total of 1.19 million vehicles (11,92,558 UVs), which means the Sonet accounts for a strong 38% share.
In terms of total sales, the Sonet is Kia India’s second highest selling model after the Seltos midsize SUV (568,131 units) which was the first made-in-India model to be launched in August 2019. The Carens MPV, which now stands expanded with the Clavis and Clavis EV models, with 245,275 units, is the third highest-selling model.
A noteworthy fact about the Sonet is that despite being launched when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak in India, it went on to cross the 100,000-unit sales milestone on September 14, 2021, less than a year after its launch.
The 150,000-unit sales milestone came up in June 2022. The 250,000-units mark came up in May 2023, 33 months since launch. While the run from 250,000 to 350,000 units took 15 months, the last 100,000 units have been sold in just a little 13 months – from July 2024 to August 2025.
The Sonet is the second highest-selling model for Kia India after the Seltos. The new Sonet, launched in January 2024, has outsold the Seltos for 20 months in a row.
NEW SONET PUMPS UP THE VOLUME
The second-generation Sonet has helped rev up demand for the model. Launched in January 2024, new Sonet has sold a total of 167,335 units till end-August 2025, accounting for 37% of the domestic market sales of 451,014 units in just 20 months. This period has also seen the new Sonet, which has been updated, facelifted and bristling with plenty of new tech, outsell the Seltos. Kia India’s longstanding No. 1 model, since January last year.
The Sonet is currently available in 18 variants – 12 petrol and 6 diesel. The refreshed SUV gets exterior changes such as connected LED tail-lamps, reworked front and rear bumpers, restyled all-LED headlamps and fog lamps, as well as newly-styled 16-inch wheels.
On the inside, the new Sonet gets refreshed upholstery, and more features including a larger infotainment screen and a fully-digital 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.
The car is replete with modern-day connectivity options, including remote engine start and geofencing, bundled with the Kia Connect suite. The infotainment system offers both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity functionalities, along with a highly fluid user experience.
One of the key highlights of the updated Sonet is the inclusion of 10 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or Level-1 ADAS features such as lane-keep assist, forward-collision warning, and driver attention warning.
The Sonet continues to have three engine options – 1.2-litre, 83hp naturally-aspirated petrol, 1.0-litre, 120hp turbo-charged petrol, and a 1.5-litre, 116hp turbocharged diesel engine. There are three transmission options – MT, AT, and clutchless manual transmission or iMT – in different combinations depending upon the powertrain.
The Sonet, which has a new sibling in the form of the Kia Syros, is part of the highly competitive compact SUV segment which includes the Tata Nexon, Tata Punch, Hyundai Venue, Hyundai Exter, Mahindra 3XO, Maruti Brezza, Maruti Fronx, Toyota Taisor, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger and most recently the Skoda Kylaq.
The Sonet remains a show-stopper for Kia and considering the price advantage it has over new sibling Syros, it will continue to remain the best-selling Kia in the coming months as well. What also helps is the sustained wave of demand for compact SUVs, which have recently received a new growth booster shot in the form of 10% reduce GST.
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