The compact sedan category has long been conquered by Toyota Corolla (1.3) and Honda City in Pakistan. For the duration of the past decades there used to be a Suzuki option Margalla in the 90s or Baleno in 2000s, however after the termination of Liana, the playfield is left for Toyota & Honda only.
Currently though, following the Auto Policy 2016-21 has taken effect, a lot of newcomers are likely to make their way in. South Korean manufacturers Hyundai and KIA, which had a existence in our market for the duration of the last decade, are among the ones making a reappearance.
Before that, they were in ties with Dewan group, which afterward went into financial troubles subsequent to which the Hyundai & KIA chapter was closed. This time Hyundai has partnered with Nishat group whereas KIA has team up with Lucky Cement (Yunus Brothers Group), together which are much financially sound companies evaluated with their ex-venture.
Together both Hyundai Verna and KIA Rio share the same chassis & platform, and share the engines from the same stable too. Both are obtainable in a choice of 1.4 & 1.6 liter (Gamma & Kappa) engines with 5-speed/ 6-speed manual, automatic & CVT transmission alternatives. Nevertheless the Rio comes exclusive with a 1.2 liter Kappa engine not presented with the Verna sedan.
Kappa & Gamma are choices of engines offered by Hyundai-KIA. Kappa engines are latest, lighter and more fuel efficient when evaluated with Gamma engines which are approximately for quite a few years now. Though both the engines are being set up in Hyundai & KIA vehicles dependent on the market they are targeted to.
In view of the fact that both the vehicles are alike in platform & engines, and fit in the same segment, it is quite possible that the Verna will be obtainable as sedan whereas the Rio will be here as a hatchback as every Rio spotted so far is a hatchback. Even though what engines will be presented with these two cars is yet unidentified however it is quite apparent that the two won’t compete with each other straightforwardly thus there will be a variation in engine & body configurations too. Likely the Hyundai Verna will be presented as a sedan with moreover a 1.4 or 1.6 liter engine whereas the Rio will be a hatchback with 1.2 or 1.4 liter engine.
The South Korean manufacturers have been manufacturing world-class vehicles lately and grasp a strong possibility to have a surprise victory in our market with an exciting range of vehicles. The HyundaiVerna and Kia Rio has got all the prospective to break the control of Toyota Corolla (XLi/ GLi) and Honda City. Sensing this Toyota Indus has specified to discontinue the 1.3 liter Corolla variants and present the Vios instead, as Corolla competes with the likes of Hyundai Elantra & Kia Forte and it makes more logic to bring in the smaller Vios to take on the Rio & Verna. Honda on the other hand is yet to act in response as they are still enduring with the 9 year old fifth generation City in Pakistan.
The accomplishment of Hyundai Verna and KIA Rio is dependant a lot on the price tag and after sales service these companies are going to present. If priced wisely and backed by proper after sales support, the Verna and Rio will definitely become triumphant in our market and set off a healthy competition which will soon be coupled by Renault & the Chinese co.
