The Accent has been quite popular in the American market and after its launch there in 2011, the car has not got many updates. Now, after two years, featuring more stylised features and offering better convenience, the updated Hyundai Accent, (Verna for India) was revealed for the markets in USA.
The 2014 Hyundai Accent comes in two body styles for the US market, a hatch version and a sedan. The car is offered in three trim levels- the affordable four-door GLS, the versatile, well-equipped five-door GS and the sporty five-door SE. The upgrades on both include additional standard equipment like one-touch triple turn signal, sliding sun visors and a blind spot mirror. The standard audio system has also been updated for improved voice recognition and button layout.
Other changes include stylish projector headlights with LED accents that join a driver’s auto-up power window and tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel on the five-door SE and four-door Premium Package models. The sporty five-door SE gets a B&M Racing Sport Shifter for added performance, which helps makes shifting gears in the automatic transmission mode easier.
The car is longer than the previous generation and under the hood one can find resting a 1.6-litre Gamma four-cylinder engine, which develops 138bhp and 166Nm of torque. The specialty of this mill is that allows for GDI which makes for better fuel efficiency and lower emissions. The engines are mated to a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC and Active ECO System with Hillstart Assist Control. In terms of safety, it boasts of a total of six airbags, including two front impact airbags, two front seat-mounted side impact airbags and curtain side-impact airbags for the front and rear passengers.
With regards to India, despite it receiving a mild update in August, we do expect this car with the upgraded features to make its way to the markets here, especially since the new Honda City is scheduled to debut soon. We will not be getting the Gamma engine but we sure can expect the other changes and more features, which has always worked in Hyundai’s favour.
