Over six years after the arrival of the first-gen Seltos, its second-gen successor is primed to make its India launch on January 2, 2026. The Kia Seltos has been a viable alternative for those who wish to skip past the Hyundai Creta, with which it once shared its platform. That said, the new Seltos still shares most of its powertrain configurations with the Creta.

In its all-new second-generation avatar, the Seltos offers buyers a thoroughly revamped exterior and interior, along with updated features and safety equipment. Diving deeper, we will compare the top variants of the Hyundai Creta and the second-gen Kia Seltos. Let us find out which of these midsize SUVs comes out on top, at least in theory.

New Kia Seltos vs Hyundai Creta: Exterior features

The all-new Kia Seltos gets auto-deploying flush door handles along with front and rear fog lights – features missing on the Hyundai Creta. However, the Creta’s top variant comes with puddle lamps. These can help boost the premiumness and also aid visibility in the dark. The alloy wheels of the Seltos have distinct geometric patterns, while those of the Creta are more generic.

Both cars get sequential turn indicators, faux skid plates and roof rails, and a rear spoiler. That said, the new Seltos’s rear wiper is tucked away under the rear spoiler, which is a premium touch. Another area where the Kia SUV surpasses its Hyundai rival is exterior colours. Buyers of the new Seltos have up to 12 options to choose from, compared to only eight offered with the Creta.

New Kia Seltos vs Hyundai Creta: Interior features

The GTX (A) variant of the new Kia Seltos gets powered lumbar adjustment for the driver, which the Creta King misses, plus what Kia calls the ‘Relaxation Position’. This essentially reclines the backrest all the way till it is completely flat, enabling the driver to rest before their next stint behind the wheel. However, this feature is only available in the automatic variants.

The second-gen Seltos has three digital displays, the smallest being a dedicated 5.0-inch touch unit to control the HVAC system – the Creta does not get this third screen. Adding redundancy and convenience to this screen are physical HVAC controls. Even the digital instrument cluster and infotainment touchscreen of the new Seltos are bigger than the Creta’s.

The new Seltos’s top variant further adds a 64-colour LED ambient lighting system and four Type-C ports (three of which are fast-charging outlets). On the other hand, the Hyundai Creta gets two wireless chargers – one each for the front and rear occupants. Both midsize SUVs come with connected-car tech, albeit under different names.

New Kia Seltos vs Hyundai Creta: Safety features

As you can see from the table, both cars come with Level 2 ADAS. It integrates various safety functions such as adaptive cruise control, front and rear collision detection and avoidance, high-beam assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist, and driver-attention warning, among several others. Known as ‘Kia DriveWise’ and ‘Hyundai SmartSense’ in the Seltos and Creta, respectively, there aren’t huge differences between the two.

New Kia Seltos vs Hyundai Creta: Drive features

Both the new Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta offer paddle shifters with their automatic variants. They also get the same choices of drive and terrain modes. In a bid to conserve fuel, the Creta comes equipped with automatic engine stop-start (‘ISG’ or ‘Integrated Starter Generator’ in Hyundai’s parlance), a feature absent in the new Seltos.

New Kia Seltos vs Hyundai Creta top variants: Which gets more features?

On paper, the top-spec GTX (A) variant of the new Kia Seltos offers more features than the Hyundai Creta King. This equipment disparity is more visible when you explore the interior of these cars. The Seltos gets bigger primary displays, a driver’s seat with powered lumbar adjustment and seat-position memory and a 64-colour LED mood lighting system.

While prices have not been disclosed, the second-gen Seltos will be more expensive than its predecessor. The old Seltos ranged from Rs 10.79 lakh to Rs 19.81 lakh, and the Hyundai Creta costs between Rs 10.72 lakh and Rs 20.20 lakh. Even if the top-end Seltos is priced Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 higher than its Creta equivalent, its richer feature set should balance out the difference.

Prices mentioned are ex-showroom, Delhi.