The Hyundai Verna — review
I am continuing my review of the Segment C cars being offered in India. The car chosen for a review today is the Hyundai Verna that was launched in the backdrop of the successful prior model launches/sales of the Hyundai Accent (another Segment C Sedan), the Santro series (Zing/Getz etc.) – a B+ segment car.
The product
I had asked one of my close friends to share his review of the Hyundai Verna. After all, we see ad’s stating that they are the best in many categories. Here is a snippet:
Hyundai Verna wins accolades – Overdrive Magazine: Car of the Year 2007, CNBC-TV18 Autocar Auto Awards 2007: Best value-for-money car, Business Standard Motoring: Performance Car of the Year 2007 – Hyundai Verna 1.5 CRDi
Lets take a look at what my peer had to say about this car. He owns this car and can be reached at: chaitanyaram@hotmail.com
The new Hyundai Verna Xi Petrol
My friend/peer had done sufficient research on the Internet and on television shows before he went in for this car and although the new Mahindra-Renault Logan and the Mauthi-Suzuki Baleno were supposed to be launched in the near future, he says he did not want to wait that long.
Before he test drove the car, he had read and liked the Verna for its:
– Feature set
– Public opinion that was quoted extensively as the Verna being a ‘value for money’ car
– Extremely good after-sales service from Hyundai, (for the uninitiated, Hyundai is second only to the erstwhile Maruti (Hyundai already has twelve authorized service centers across Bangalore)
– Improvisation over the very successful Hyundai Accent My peer was extremely particular about going in for a Segment ‘C’ sedan and in this regard he had earlier driven the Chevrolet Aveo and he had wanted to testdrive the Verna, the Honda City and the Ford Fiesta – in that order.
My peer did not really find anything great about the Aveo but after his testdrive of the Hyundai Verna (both the Diesel and the Petrol variants) he just decided that that was indeed the car for him!
My peer had done sufficient due-diligence on the Hyundai car to necessitate a testdrive of the car and he was clearly not dissapointed. He liked it specially for its:
– Interiors – especially the wooden grained interiors, the adjustable steering column and the drivers seat, the electronically adjustable rear view mirrors, the bottle holders (eight of them in all!) the hand rest for the driver seat, the foldable tray at the rear with a bottle grip etc. – these were some of the features he had not heard of as being offered by manufacturers of cars in this segment!
– The road grip – which, by the way, was very good, and the ground clearance (my major grouse at most times given the potholed Indian roads!) was just about enough for some real ruddy roads on the countryside – Turning radius which he felt was terrific – he did not get the feel that this was actually not a hatch-back!
– Very spacious and comfortable at the rear seats
– Large boot space – awesome and the back seat were foldable such that the boot is usable when one wants to stuff more in the boot by folding the back seats. – The power, power and the power – this was his exclamation! It was amazing and very easily drove on Bangalore’s Ring roads at 150 kmph+, great pickup and performance!
According to my peer, the verdict is clear: The Hyundai Verna is a real winner and the more my peer drives it, the more he wants to!
For further details, please visit: http://hyundaiverna.co.in/
Mileage of the Verna (city and off city conditions)
Hyundai claims the mileage to be in the region of 12-14 km to a liter of Petrol in city with AC conditions and close to 16 km to a liter on highways My peer hasn’t exactly measured it but as per him, it is definitely not less than 10 km to a liter.
Mileage of the Verna (city and off city conditions)
Hyundai claims the mileage to be in the region of 12-14 km to a liter of Petrol in city with AC conditions and close to 16 km to a liter on highways My peer hasn’t exactly measured it but as per him, it is definitely not less than 10 km to a liter.
The price point of the various versions Which one offers the most ‘value for money’?
Rs. 7.5 lacs pa on road price for the Xi petrol, the basic version is just Rs. 20K lesser but lacking some of the features such as speakers, headrest and seat adjustments etc. The XXi is about Rs. 70K more expensive but the only additional accessories are the music system (speakers come with the Xi itself), climate control for AC and alloy wheels. So as per my peer, the Xi is the best bet.
And yes, there is a Diesel variant of the Hyundai Verna and this comes with the CRDi engine and my peer has driven it too and says it’s very good!
So, all in all, a ‘value for money’ car indeed!
The Price
The price point of the various versions Which one offers the most ‘value for money’?
Rs. 7.5 lacs pa on road price for the Xi petrol, the basic version is just Rs. 20K lesser but lacking some of the features such as speakers, headrest and seat adjustments etc. The XXi is about Rs. 70K more expensive but the only additional accessories are the music system (speakers come with the Xi itself), climate control for AC and alloy wheels. So as per my peer, the Xi is the best bet.
And yes, there is a Diesel variant of the Hyundai Verna and this comes with the CRDi engine and my peer has driven it too and says it’s very good!
So, all in all, a ‘value for money’ car indeed!
Globonomics! 
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