HYUNDAI VERNA

Vivek Venugopal is one of India’s top automotive writers with over a decade’s experience in road-testing and reviewing cars. He is currently the Editor of Quarter Mile magazine and a columnist in several leading magazines and newspapers. He is also a highly sought after consulting engineer and market analyst for many automobile manufacturers.

- Vivek Venugopal

The Hyundai Verna has enjoyed its comfortable position in the upper midsize segment for quite some time amongst capable competition. Three years into this generation’s life, it is time for the midlife revamp and as with every Verna facelift before, Hyundai likes to do things properly. The new 2020 Verna gets refreshed styling, more features and more importantly, a new 1L turbo petrol engine in a segment where 1.5 or 1.6 litre engines used to be the norm. Before you dismiss it off for something unexciting, let me tell you that the new engine is more powerful, more fuel efficient and costs less to insure than the old 1.6. But we will get to all that in a bit.

The Verna has one of the most balanced looking designs in its class and with the facelift, it looks even more aggressive especially in the sportier Turbo GDI variant we tested. The front-end styling is all new, along with new headlamps, new bumper and larger glossy black grille (black chrome for other variants), all intersecting into one another to create a striking face. The car looks like the current global designs from Hyundai. The glossy black mirrors and newer alloy wheels and a raised ride height are what you notice from the sides. When you get to the rear, the tail lamps are new and there is a new bumper design with a new diffuser look and square exhaust tips finished in chrome. The bumper also has a halftone pattern emerging from the black trims on the sides a detail that may polarize opinion. Overall, the styling has got better and more modern and upmarket which is not bad for a facelift.