Bookings for the Kia Seltos officially opened yesterday, and the Korean brand has already received 6,046 bookings in just a day, out of which 1,628 were made via the official website. Kia’s first model for India is available for booking online and at the company's showrooms across India. By the time the SUV goes on sale, Kia plans to have a network comprising of 265 touchpoints in 160 cities.
At launch, Kia Motors India will offer the Seltos with three BS6-compliant engine options – 115hp, 1.5-litre petrol and diesel motors, and a 140hp, 1.4-litre turbo-petrol mill. All three units will come with manual and automatic gearbox options (the 1.5 petrol has a CVT, the 1.5 diesel has a 6-speed torque convertor and the 1.4 petrol has a 7-speed dual-clutch option).
There is expected to be a Kia Seltos for nearly every mid-size SUV budget with prices ranging from Rs 11 lakh to Rs 17 lakh (ex-showroom). The Seltos is likely to be available in eight variants – the 1.5 petrol line-up will start with the base GTK and end with the GTX+, while the diesel model’s base and top-spec trims will be called HTE and HTX+, respectively. The Seltos 1.4 turbo-petrol will only be offered on the sportier GT-Line variant that will feature a number of unique design elements.
While the features list for the base variants have not been revealed yet, the range-topping versions will boast features such as a 10.25-inch touchscreen, a head-up display, a 360-degree camera, a sunroof, multi-coloured ambient lighting, cooled front seats and a Bose audio system.
Kia dealers we spoke to say display cars will reach showroom by end of July, with customer test drives set to commence in early August.
When it arrives in showrooms, the Kia Seltos will go head to head with the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Renault Captur, Nissan Kicks, Tata Harrier, Mahindra XUV500, and the MG Hector.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
