New Kia Seltos prices compared with key rivals

Kia has officially disclosed prices for the all-new Seltos, ranging between Rs 10.99 lakh and Rs 19.99 lakh. The new Seltos still contends in the fiercely competitive midsize SUV space, where the Hyundai Creta rules the sales charts. Aside from the new Seltos, the segment has seen two strong entrants in recent months: the Maruti Suzuki Victoris and the Tata Sierra.

The new Seltos is available with three engine options: a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. Both the Creta and Sierra have similar engine line-ups, while the Victoris is offered with 1.5-litre NA petrol, hybrid and CNG powertrains. Let’s dive into how the new Seltos compares to the Creta, Sierra and Victoris on the pricing front, split by engine type.

New Kia Seltos 1.5-litre NA petrol price vs key rivals

Seltos’s base variant undercuts that of Sierra by Rs 50,000 

Though the second-gen Seltos’s starting price is higher than that of the Victoris and Creta by Rs 49,000 and Rs 26,000, respectively, the Seltos is still quite compelling since it is based on a new platform dubbed ‘K3’, which enables larger dimensions (95mm longer and 30mm wider than its predecessor) and tech and safety upgrades.

Compared to the Sierra, which has the highest starting price here, the new Seltos is Rs 50,000 more affordable at the base level. Interestingly, its prices are nearly identical to the launch prices of the outgoing Seltos 2023 facelift (Rs 10.90 lakh-20 lakh), further emphasising its excellent value for money.

When it comes to the top-spec NA petrol variants, the Sierra flips the script by snagging the affordability crown, costing Rs 1.5 lakh less than the new Seltos. In fact, the new Seltos is the most expensive on this front, with the top-spec NA petrol Creta undercutting it by Rs 81,000 and the Victoris by Rs 27,000.

Like its predecessor (and the Creta), the new Seltos’s 115hp NA petrol engine is available with 6-speed manual and CVT automatic gearbox options. The Victoris buyers can choose between a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic, while the Sierra offers a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DCT.

New Kia Seltos 1.5-litre turbo petrol price vs key rivals

New Seltos is currently the most affordable 4-cyl turbo-petrol midsize SUV

The new Seltos is the most affordable 4-cylinder turbo-petrol midsize SUV you can currently buy. The starting price of its variants with the 160hp engine undercuts those of the turbo-petrol Creta and Sierra by up to a hefty Rs 6.6 lakh. The top-spec turbo-petrol variant of the Seltos costs Rs 9,000 more than that of the Creta and Rs 1 lakh less than the Sierra’s.

That’s because the new Seltos offers 6-speed iMT and 7-speed DCT options with its turbo-petrol engine across seven trim levels, whereas the Creta is available only with a 7-speed DCT and the Sierra with a 6-speed automatic when it comes to the higher-spec turbo-petrol variants.

New Kia Seltos 1.5-litre diesel price vs key rivals

Seltos diesel slots between Creta and Sierra diesel variants

Coming to diesel pricing, the Creta is the most affordable at the base level, with the new Seltos following closely, costing Rs 34,000 more. The Sierra diesel, meanwhile, is Rs 40,000 more expensive than the Seltos’s base diesel variant. Given that the Seltos is newer than the Creta, buyers may be compelled to pay extra for it without having to stretch their budgets too much for the Sierra.

Even for top-spec diesel variants, the Creta is more affordable than the new Seltos, albeit by a slimmer margin of Rs 27,000. Meanwhile, the gap between the top-spec diesel Seltos and Sierra widens to Rs 1.3 lakh. The new Seltos’s 116hp diesel engine can be paired with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed torque converter automatic. Both the Creta and Sierra offer the same gearbox options with their respective diesel engines.

All prices are ex-showroom, India.