2015 Hyundai Solaris (Verna) breaks cover

The 2015 Hyundai Verna has been launched in Russia at 4.73 lakh Rubles (Rs 8.26 lakh). Sold under the ‘Solaris’ moniker in Russia, the facelift adopts the Fluidic version 2.0 design philosophy, making it closely resemble its elder brother, the Sonata.

The new Verna is a facelift of the current car and gets some prominent cosmetic changes influenced by the 'Verna RB concept'. The Russia-spec Verna is very similar to the Hyundai Rena, which is sold in China, though the front grille gets two chrome slats and the headlamp design has also been altered. The lower bumper has also been redesigned and gets a different design for the fog lamps. The rear gets new tail lamps with LED lights and a reflector on the lower bumper. 

The interiors of the new Verna have remained more or less the same, though it now gets an all-black centre console and cabin. Safety features include six airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) and ABS with EBD.

The Verna is currently offered with four engine options and we expect the same to be retained for the facelift. Both the petrol and diesel-powered variants are offered with either a 1.4-litre or a 1.6-litre unit. While the petrol variants come with a five-speed manual gearbox, the diesel variants come with a six-speed manual gearbox. A four-speed automatic gearbox is also available in some high-end variants. 

The current second-generation Verna was launched back in May 2011 and is one of the Korean manufacturer’s best-selling cars in India. Hyundai recently updated the car with redesigned alloy wheels, projector headlamps and daytime running lamps, though the threat from the new Honda City, Sunny facelift and the Fiesta facelift is too big to be ignored. While the sales numbers have remained pretty consistent over the past few months, the City has shown that there is a lot of untapped potential in this segment. We can expect the facelift to hit our shores by the end of this year.