Every automaker in India has tried their hands on the sedan segment. Our very own Korean carmaker also has got some of the most successful sedans in the Indian market. Hyundai Verna – the name that is familiar to all sedan lovers has been in India through several generations. Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Sonata have also successfully reached out to the customers in the respective price segments. Verna honestly has done a great job in every generation that it has ever existed! Let’s have a look at the journey of this car in the Indian market!
Read The Tata Peregrine Is The Honda City/Maruti Ciaz/Hyundai Verna Rival
Hyundai Verna | Initial Impressions
The Hyundai Verna was launched in India for the very first time in 2006. It was the festive season and both the Santro and the Accent were already doing good. Verna was so much similar to the Accent, therefore, it could easily affect the sales of the newly arrived Verna. However, the new sedan in town did really great and achieved a sale of 5,000 units in just 15 days! This was indeed a great figure at that time.
This sedan from Hyundai was meant to stand strong against strong rivals like the Honda City which was, of course, ruling the market at that time. The aerodynamic ‘egg’ design of the Hyundai Verna helped it stand and compete against the City. This sedan from the Korean automaker had all an that an auto-lover could ask for at that time. It was powerful, it was safe, it was reliable and most importantly, it had a design that left no eye unturned!
read First-gen Hyundai Verna Vs 2020 Hyundai Verna- See the Difference
Hyundai Verna Transformed? Not Really!
In 2010, the Hyundai Verna got a facelift for the first time. Hyundai named it as the Hyundai Verna transform. The engine specifications however, remained the same. Verna was powered by a 1.6-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre petrol engine. The power outputs for both of these were 102bhp and 109bhp respectively. In this upgrade, the Verna got a fresh look with new headlamps, front bumpers, air dams, body-coloured grille inserts and LED turn indicators on ORVMs. The instrument cluster was also modified to look modern and young!
2011 Verna | The City Killer
The Korean automaker once again gave the Verna a facelift in 2011. We have called it the city killer because at that time, Hyundai Verna turned out to be the most powerful car in the segment! The new i10 & the i10 models sold in India in 2011 had adopted a fluidic design. Following the trend, the Hyundai Verna also got a fluidic design and was named as the ‘Fluidic Verna’ too.
This generation of the Verna looked better than both of the previous generations. The wide-open, hexagonally shaped large air dam at the front and smooth curves on the side profiles helped Verna set new standards for the design! This one had all the features one could imagine in a car at that time. Push engine start and the automatic climate control are the major highlights though.
2015 Verna | The competition gets stronger!
This is when the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the new Honda City were launched. Though Hyundai gave the Verna a cosmetic facelift at this time, it couldn’t steal the limelight from the Ciaz and the City! This time, Hyundai worked on the headlamps to make it look more aggressive.
Hyundai did not lack on the equipment at this time too. The Verna had keyless entry, rear-view camera and at least three ways to hook up your audio device! Hyundai has always been a future-ready brand. The new Verna had already taken shape. As said earlier, this was a cosmetic upgrade with only the front profile receiving the noticeable changes with minor tweaks inside the cabin. The rear profile remained the same and there was no change under the hood too.
Read 2020 Hyundai Verna Launched; Gets 8 New Features
2017 Verna | The Next-Gen
This time, as Hyundai called it, the Next-Generation Hyundai Verna had all that a sedan needed. The ventilated front seats were first in segment feature that this sedan had. A smart infotainment system with smartphone connectivity and an electric sunroof were on offer. What else could anyone ask for?
Under the hood, the engines still remained the same as the previous generations. 1.6 Dual VTVT petrol and the 1.6 VGT diesel engines powered the Hyundai Verna. This time, it was based on the automaker’s K2 platform that was more rigid than the previous-gen model’s platform. Better NVH levels, crashworthiness and overall stiffness were the claimed improvements over the last-gen model.
2020 Hyundai Verna | The Present
Hyundai launched the 2020 Verna a few days back. This one also offers a host of new features as always. Digital instrument cluster, smart boot, ESS (Emergency Stop Signal) are a few to count on. On the outside, the Verna gets bold huge chrome grille in front with re-designed all-LED headlamps. DRLs in the front gives the car its character and zing. At the rear, the only noticeable changes are the redesigned bumper with chrome accents for the reflectors. The new car also gets LED tail lamps adding a point to the character to the vehicle.
This time Hyundai has got a surprise under the hood too! The 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine that made its debut in the Venue has made its way into the Verna after the Aura. Hyundai is launching the turbo variants for almost all the cars in its lineup.
We have seen that this car raised the design standards and also challenged its rivals in terms of features and power. Its 2020 and the Verna has still got some first-in-segment features. Will the other automakers be able to heat up the competition again? The 2020 Honda City is also out but we are yet to hear from Maruti Suzuki about the Ciaz. Let’s see what happens next!
