4 Things You Didn’t Know About The Hyundai Verna

Agencies Updated at: 27 Sep 2017 01:30 PM (IST)

The Korean automaker launched the 2017 Hyundai Verna in the country at Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Hyundai is known for offering premium features in its cars with most of them being segment-firsts. Continuing the same trend, the 2017 Verna boasts quite a handful of them as well. You can have a look at them here. However, let’s talk about the lesser known facts about the new Verna. Take a look at the top four things you probably didn’t know about the Korean sedan.

Same Car, Different Names

Russia-spec Hyundai Solaris

The Hyundai Verna that we know in India has different names in the global market. For instance, it’s known as the Hyundai Solaris in Russia and the Accent in the USA, North American and Chinese markets.

Platform Cousins

We bet you didn’t know that the new Verna shares its platform with its premium cousin, the Hyundai Elantra. The platform’s high-strength metal uses aeronautics-grade structural adhesive at 40 spots which helps the car’s body to be lighter yet stiffer.

Once The Segment Leader

We all know that the Honda City ruled the mid-size sedan segment with an iron fist in the mid- and late-2000s. The launch of the Hyundai Verna didn’t change this fact by a great margin, but the interesting bit came when the gap between the petrol and the diesel fuel prices widened. During this period, there was a paradigm shift in the auto industry. As more car buyers were veering towards diesel cars thanks to the lower fuel price, the sales of the Honda City began to falter as it was only available with a petrol engine at that point of time.

Hyundai capitalised on Honda’s loss by plonking a powerful, yet very efficient diesel motor in the Verna. Soon, the Verna became the highest selling sedan in the country. It sold almost thrice the number of Honda Citys in those months. The rein continued for a couple of years until Maruti Suzuki launched the Ciaz with the national engine (Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre DDiS engine) and Honda introduced the diesel version of the City. These days, the Ciaz and the City keep trading places on the leaderboard. But this is likely to change with the introduction of the 2017 Verna.

Sales Figures

Since the launch of the Verna nameplate in November 2006, the Hyundai Verna has always performed decently. Barring the last couple of years, the Verna has either led the segment or settled for the second spot when it comes to outright sales figures. In total, Hyundai has sold over 3.18 lakh units of the Verna in India and 8.8 million units worldwide.

With the 2017 Verna, Hyundai aims to take the competition above a notch.

Check out our first drive review here: 2017 Hyundai Verna: First drive