Kia Reveals Stonic SUV, To Go On Sale In Europe In Q3 2017

Published On Jun 21, 2017 05:31 PM By Jagdev

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To be powered by both petrol and diesel engines mated to a manual transmission only

Ever since Kia announced its plans for India, every development around the carmaker is making noise. After revealing sketches of the Stonic SUV a while back, the carmaker has now completely revealed the production-ready version.

The Kia Stonic will be placed in the B-SUV category for the European market where it will compete with SUVs like the Renault Captur. Interestingly, Kia has already announced two products for the Indian market – a compact sedan and a compact SUV. However, Kia’s official entry into the Indian market is still a couple of years away and it might be a bit far-fetched to say that the Stonic compact SUV will be launched here.

Kia has announced that the Stonic will get both petrol and diesel engines for the European market. However, it’ll only be available with a manual transmission due to the demands of the market. The range of engines includes a 1.0-litre T-GDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engine producing 120PS, a 1.25- or 1.4-litre naturally-aspirated MPI (multi-point injection) gasoline engine and a 1.6-litre diesel engine.

The Stonic will come with a wide range of customisation options which will complement Kia’s youthful brand image. The customisation options will mostly be limited to exterior colour options more than anything else. Buyers will be able to opt for two-tone paint finish on the roof and will get to choose from 20 two-tone colour combinations. Buyers will also have a choice of five distinctive colours for the roof in Europe!

The stock Stonic will come with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) which includes Torque Vectoring by Braking, Straight Line Stability, and Cornering Brake Control and Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ compatibility as standard. Select variants will also feature heated front seats, automatic cruise control, keyless entry, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)* with pedestrian recognition and Forward Collision Alert (FCA), Blind Spot Detection (BSD) with Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), High Beam Assist (HBA) and Driver Attention Warning (DAW).

It's still a bit early to say whether Stonic will come to India or not, but it could very well be a worthy competitor to the Renault Duster and the Honda BR-V unless Kia chops it off (somehow) to take on the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and the Ford EcoSport.