"Honey, I shrunk the Elantra, just a wee-bit," shall say an owner of the new 2017 Hyundai Verna. And why not, because the car has pretty much everything its older sibling, the Hyundai Elantra, has at a slightly lower price and size.
The 2017 Hyundai Verna prices start at Rs. 7.99 lakh and go up to Rs. 12.61 lakh for the top-end diesel automatic variant. This price is introductory for the first 20,000 customers.
Hyundai has loaded the 2017 Verna with features, beating its main rivals the Honda City and Maruti Ciaz on that front. It has everything that the other two offer and more, including more number of automatic variants in diesel and petrol, cooled front seats (a first in segment), sunroof, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and more.
Read: 2017 Hyundai Verna Preview
Hyundai has made the new car slightly longer and wider than the older one, making it a bit more spacious too. It now comes with 1.6 litre petrol and 1.6 litre diesel engines, both of which are the most powerful in the segment.
Watch a quick walkaround video of the new Hyundai Verna:
2017 Hyundai Verna Prices
Petrol Variants
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT E (Manual): Rs 7.99 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT EX (Manual): Rs 9.06 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT EX (Automatic): Rs 9.50 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT SX (Manual): Rs 11.07 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT SX O (Manual): Rs 10.22 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 VTVT SX O (Automatic): Rs 12.23 lakh
Diesel Variants
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi E (Manual): Rs 9.19 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi EX (Manual): Rs 9.99 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi EX (Automatic): Rs 11.11 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi SX (Manual): Rs 12.39 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi SX (Automatic): Rs 11.39 lakh
Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi SX O (Manual): Rs 12.61 lakh
2017 Hyundai Verna Features
You would find some features pretty convenient such as ventilated front seats (very useful feature in humid, sweaty conditions), cooled glove box (to keep your water chilled), sunroof, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, powered mirrors, reverse camera, climate control, rear AC vents, rear sun blind etc. In terms of safety, two airbags, ABS and Isofix child seats mounts. The SX (O) variant comes with six airbags.
The SX variants upwards come with projector headlamps and LED daytime running lamps. They also get LED tail-lamps. The SX (O) variant is the one that has ventilated seats and the SX automatic variant gets a sunroof. However, there is no automatic SX (O) variant in diesel, but it is offered with the petrol model.
Speaking of automatic variants, Hyundai is offering a six-speed automatic transmission on four variants – two petrol (EX and SX O) and two diesel models (EX and SX).
2017 Hyundai Verna Specifications
Hyundai has done away with the 1.4 litre lower end variants of the Verna. The 2017 Verna comes with only the 1.6 litre petrol and diesel engine choices. The 1.6 litre petrol puts out 123 PS of power and 151 Nm of torque, while the 1.6 litre diesel puts out 128 PS of power and 260 Nm of torque. This makes the Verna the most powerful car in its segment – better than the Maruti Ciaz and the Honda City.
Earlier Hyundai used to offer a 4-speed automatic with the Verna, but that has been upgraded to the much better 6-speed automatic transmission. This is available on two petrol variants and two diesel variants. Honda City and Maruti Ciaz do not offer diesel engines with automatic transmissions. The only other cars with diesel automatic choice in this price segment are the Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid.
Surprisingly, Hyundai has discontinued the use of rear disc brakes and reverted to drum brakes at the rear. That was a feature which was unique to the Verna earlier.
The petrol and diesel variants of the Hyundai Verna also come with 6-speed manual transmissions on all variants. Maruti and Honda offer 5-speed manuals with the Ciaz and City petrol variants. City diesel has a six-speed manual.
Fuel efficiency is not best in the segment, but is better than the outgoing Verna model. The petrol has an ARAI rated fuel efficiency of 17.7 kmpl (manual) and the diesel gives 24.75 kmpl (manual). The petrol automatic gives 15.9 kmpl while the diesel automatic gives 21 kmpl.
With the list of new features, better space and segment-topping power options, Hyundai hopes the new Verna will be able to reclaim the top spot in the segment – a position it enjoyed until three years ago. The Verna is available in seven colours: Fiery Red, Stardust, Silver, Flame Orange, Polar White, Phantom Black and Siena Brown.
A detailed first-drive review of the Hyundai Verna will be up on The Quint soon. Watch this space.
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