Special for not much more
Tata has brought in the Dark Edition for its Nexon compact SUV for the second time to keep in line with the facelift that the compact SUV got in the third quarter of last year. It’s the same formula as before - take mid to high versions of the car and tack on a black package for an additional price; which in this case is Rs 30,000 for the top-spec diesel AT model. It’s a similar story to the Kia Sonet X-Line that arrived in January. The difference is Rs 23,000 between the Sonet X-Line diesel AT and the top-spec GTX Plus diesel AT.
Equipment list
On the equipment front, both cars get dual front screens, climate control with rear AC vents, leatherette upholstery, connected car technology, wireless charger with cooling pad, electrically operated sunroof, LED light package, 360-degree camera and ambient lighting. The Nexon has more features in its connected car system and has wireless charging while the Sonet gets Level-1 ADAS but no wireless connectivity, an even playing field more or less.
Standing out
The Rs 30,000/Rs 23,000 stand-out bit is of course the Dark/X-Line package. In the case of the Dark, it’s an all-black package with a black paint scheme, black wheels, black interiors and Dark badging on the side and at the rear. The Sonet X-Line takes a different route with a matte paint scheme, diamond-cut alloy wheels and two types of interior colour schemes of either black and white or sage green which is a first in the segment.
Powertrains and variants
Both cars have diesel automatic options with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit. In the Nexon, the engine produces 113bhp/260Nm mated to a six-speed AMT while the Kia’s engine produces 114bhp/250Nm and comes mated to a six-speed AT. Both have petrol options as well with the Nexon’s being a 1.2-litre turbo petrol while the Sonet gets a 1.0-litre GDi turbo petrol. The Nexon has the better deal here as you get it in more variants but with the Sonet you only have it in the top-spec diesel and petrol engine options.
Worth it?
Special edition SUVs seem to be all the rage as the consumer is now willing to spend to stand out. In this respect, both cars suddenly seem like a good deal if you want to go a cut above the rest. In our case, they are fully loaded variants, which means you get all the bells and whistles but not much more than their equivalent standard models.