Cheaper and safer Kia Sonet launched in South Africa – but there’s a catch

Kia South Africa has updated the Sonet range with expanded safety features and specifications and has lowered prices across the board, but only for a limited time.

All seven derivatives of the popular Korean crossover have seen their prices slashed by between R5,000 and R45,000 at launch.

“The Sonet has been a popular choice with South African consumers, and this range strengthens that position in a crowded segment,” said Kia South Africa CEO Paul Turnbull.

“It extends safety and technology specifications to more customers, at price points that resonate with South African buyers. The best just got better.”

New models and updated features

Joining the existing Sonet line-up are two new LS+ derivatives, one manual and one CVT, which are positioned between the entry-level LS models and the LX derivative.

These two models add a six-airbag safety specification further down the range as well as Kia’s styled wheels in the lower trimlines.

Electronic Stability Control and Hill-start Assist Control remain standard across the range, as is the range’s 190mm ground clearance and 385-litre luggage capacity.

In the middle of the range, Kia has added a sunroof as a standard feature on the EX derivative, and also added a Bose sound system as a standard addition on the flagship SX model.

As the top-of-the-range entry, the SX maintains Kia’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and a 10.25-inch HD infotainment display.

A standard powertrain

Since the Sonet’s last update, which saw it drop the turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol motors, the entire range shares a common platform and drivetrain.

The resulting configuration is a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol block paired with either a six-speed manual transmission or a continuously variable transmission (CVT) depending on the derivative.

No matter the variant, the engine produces 85kW and 144Nm, and in its manual guise averages a fuel consumption of 6.6l/100km and allows the crossover to reach 100km/h in 10.5 seconds.

The CVT automatic variants claim to average a slightly better fuel consumption of 6.2l/100km and a marginally better acceleration of 10.3 seconds to reach 100km/h. Both configurations have a top speed of 175km/h.

Pricing

Accompanying the launch of the new derivatives and safer existing models, Kia South Africa has announced special launch prices, which are in brackets:

• Kia Sonet 1.5 MT LS – R299,995 [R284,995]
• Kia Sonet 1.5 MT LS+ – R309,995 [R299,995] (New)
• Kia Sonet 1.5 CVT LS – R324,995 [R314,995]
• Kia Sonet 1.5 CVT LS+ – R339,995 [R329,995] (New)
• Kia Sonet 1.5 CVT LX – R374,995 [R349,995]
• Kia Sonet 1.5 CVT EX – R404,995 [R379,995]
• Kia Sonet 1.5 CVT SX – R484,995 [R439,995]

These prices include Kia South Africa’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

2026 Kia Sonet