Hyundai Verna launch in 2006

The Verna will be launched in petrol and diesel guises, and will be priced between the Hyundai Accent and the Elantra.

13 January 2006
NEW DELHI

What exactly is the Hyundai Verna?

If you are in India and have not been to the Auto Expo in New Delhi in early January, you would be quite confused. After all, you keep hearing about it but there is not a single photo of the car anywhere. Here, we hope to provide you with some answers about the Hyundai Verna.

The Hyundai verna is a mid-size sedan alright. But then so is the Accent. What's the difference?

The difference is pretty much the same difference as there is between the Skoda Octavia and the Skoda Laura. The Laura is the next version of the Octavia, and is priced much higher and is a newer, more sophisticated car. Same here. The Hyundai Verna is the next version of the Accent. But the Accent in all its different versions is selling reasonably well, and why would any company want to kill it off? (Don't pose that question to Toyota Kirloskar, though - they think different.)

And there you have the Hyundai Verna, which will sell alongside the current Hyundai Accent. The Accent will do battle against the likes of the Ford Ikon and Tata Indigo, Fiat Petra et al, the Verna will be positioned against the new Honda City ZX and the the rest, as well as against the Ford Fiesta petrol and diesels.

How would it be priced? The price of the Hyundai Verna would be right between the Elantra and the current Accent. Hyundai's president BVR Subbu told Business Standard that the Verna would not just be an aspirational model and that the company would be guning for big volumes. 

When will the Hyundai Verna be launched? So far, the news is that the Verna's launch will be in the third quarter of 2006. Do not be surprised if it gets delayed by another 3 -6 months, such things happen all the time.

We also hear that there will be a coupe version of the Hyundai Verna. If this is true, that will be a courageous decision indeed by Hyundai India. However, we are not sure is the Verna - pretty much a normal, everyday car - is exactly what can pull off a coupe success story in India. Who knows? We will keep you posted with more photos and news as they become available.