South Korean carmaker Hyundai has announced the pre-booking of its soon-to-be-launched car, the new Verna, in India. Although some of the dealers of Hyundai were already accepting the bookings for the sedan, the company officially opened the window for the bookings on Friday, August 4.

The new Verna's launch is scheduled for August 22 in India. The sedan, which will see a host of changes in its exterior as well as interior, will heat up the competition in the segment. It will rival against Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Honda City.

Hyundai Verna, Hyundai Verna India, Hyundai Verna launch
Hyundai VernaPR Handout

Hyundai revealed the new Verna as a concept in 2016 at the Beijing Auto show and the model went on sale in Russia as Solaris and in Canada as Accent. Built on the all new K2 platform, the new Verna is 15mm longer than the current model and the width and the wheelbase of the sedan have also been increased by 29mm and 10mm respectively. The boot space of the new Verna has been extended by 16.0 litres.

Hyundai Verna, Hyundai Verna India, Hyundai Verna launch
Hyundai VernaPR Handout

Under the hood, 2017 Verna will get the same engine from the current model. It is powered by a 1.4-litre diesel and petrol engines, and 1.6-litre diesel and petrol engines. The 1.4-litre petrol engine develops 104bhp of power while the 1.6-litre petrol version churns out 121bhp. The 1.4-litre diesel produces 89bhp, while the 1.6-litre diesel will belt out 127bhp of power. The transmission will be taken care of by six-speed manual and six-speed automatic gearboxes.

The new Verna will feature 7.0-inch touchscreen display i.e. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, LED tail lamps, projector fog lamps, projector headlamps with LED DRLs and smartphone connectivity. On the safety front, the sedan will get dual airbags and ABS as standard.