UPDATE:
Analysis: Has the Hyundai Creta finally met its match in the Kia Seltos?
Kia Seltos vs MG Hector: The battle of the newcomers
Kia Motors is all set to enter the Indian market with the Seltos SUV, which made its world debut recently in India. The new Kia Seltos will launch in our market sometime in August this year. While most Kia India dealerships are in final stages of completion, a handful of these upcoming dealerships have already begun accepting bookings for the Seltos on an unofficial basis. We spoke to a few dealers in the New Delhi area, where bookings were being accepted unofficially, with the booking amount set at Rs 25,000. Kia Motors India is expected to announce the official commencement of bookings for the Seltos sometime next month.
With the Seltos, Kia will enter a hotly contested segment in the domestic market. Key rivals to the SUV will include the popular Hyundai Creta, the upcoming MG Hector, Mahindra XUV500, the Tata Harrier, Renault Captur and the Nissan Kicks.
Kia will sell the Seltos in India with either a 1.5-litre petrol with 6-speed manual or a CVT gearbox; a 1.5-litre diesel with 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic torque convertor gearbox; and a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed double-clutch DCT gearbox. All engines powering the Kia Seltos are BS6-compliant.
We can also confirm that the Seltos will be available in a variety of exterior colours. The single-tone options include red, black, blue, orange, Glacier White, Clear White, grey and silver. Additionally, the Kia Seltos will also come with red/black, glacier white/black, silver/black and glacier white/orange two-tone exterior paint shade combinations.
As far as pricing goes, the Seltos will be priced from Rs 11 lakh onwards, going up to around Rs 17 lakh for the top variant (ex-showroom). Kia has plans to set up 265 touchpoints spread across 160 cities once the SUV goes on sale.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Dipan Sur
Dhruv Dhaka
Saptarshi Mondal
