Kia has launched the 2023 Seltos SUV in India with prices starting from Rs 10.89 lakh, going up to Rs 19.65 lakh, ex-showroom, India. The biggest updates on the Seltos are on the powertrain front – it now gets RDE and E20 fuel compliant engines – but the line-up has shrunken to just the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol and turbo-diesel engines. There’s no turbo-petrol engine on offer – for now – as the 140hp, 1.4-litre turbo unit has been discontinued from the line-up.
- Seltos prices have been hiked in the range of Rs 20,000-50,000
- Manual gearbox on diesel engine has been replaced with new iMT unit
- New 1.5-litre turbo-petrol expected to join the line-up later
With this update, prices for the base petrol variant have gone up by Rs 20,000, while all other petrol variants see a uniform hike of Rs 25,000. Meanwhile, all diesel variants are now dearer by Rs 50,000.
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Kia Seltos: updated powertrain line-up
The Seltos now just gets two engine options – the 115hp, 144Nm, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and the 116hp, 250Nm, 1.5-litre diesel engine. The power output of the diesel engine has, therefore, gone up by 1hp, but more importantly, the 6-speed manual gearbox that was offered as standard across the range has now been replaced by a 6-speed iMT unit. The 6-speed torque converter automatic for the diesel engine has been carried over as is. As for the NA petrol engine, it continues to be offered with 6-speed manual and CVT automatic gearboxes.
Buyers looking for a turbo-petrol engine on the Seltos, however, will have to wait it out. We know the Seltos will get the new 160hp, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that has already made its way into the Alcazar and the Carens, but it remains to be seen when Kia actually brings it on this SUV. It could, possibly, be with the facelift that’s slated to launch towards the middle of the year. Seltos’ sibling, the Creta, is also due to receive this new 1.5 turbo engine.
Kia Seltos: trims and variants
As before, the Seltos continues to be offered in three versions – Tech Line, GT Line and X Line – spread across seven trims (HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX, HTX+, GTX+ and X Line).
The NA petrol engine is available on all Tech Line trims except for the HTX+ – a 6-speed manual gearbox is standard, while the higher-spec HTX also gets a CVT option. Meanwhile, the diesel engine is available on all seven trims – the Tech Line trims get the 6-speed iMT gearbox, while the 6 AT gearbox is available on the HTX, GTX+ and X Line trims.
Previously, the GT Line and X Line trims also got the turbo-petrol engine, but now, they are solely available with the diesel-AT powertrain.
There have been no changes to the equipment list on the Seltos. As before, it continues to rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun and MG Astor.
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