Kia rolls out updated Seltos SUV

NEW DELHI: Kia, the fastest-growing Korean automaker, on Tuesday launched the refreshed mid-size Seltos SUV to boost sales in the lucrative but fiercely competitive and growing mid-size SUV segment in the country.

Officials said the price will be announced within a fortnight when bookings will be opened on July 14.

The popular Seltos with a starting price of Rs 11.89 lakh has sold 4 lakh units in the domestic market and exported 1 lakh units in less than four years since it was launched in India, and disrupting the market.

The new Seltos is likely to be priced at Rs 13 lakh onward.

In fact, Seltos is one of the biggest brands for Kia Corporation with one out of every 10 Kia cars sold globally being a Seltos.

Officials believe the Seltos facelift will grow the midsize SUV segment by reinventing and revamping it with its best-in-segment features and attractive design.

At present the popular Seltos brand contributes a stunning 55 per cent to Kia India's overall sales.

Building on this success, Kia has now targeted to attain a 10 per cent market share from the present 7 per cent and double its network of touchpoints from 300 to 600 in a couple of years.

Significantly, the new Seltos comes with additional 15 robust safety features which are standard across the range and boasts 32 safety features, setting a new benchmark for safety in the segment.

The new Seltos is powered by smartstream G1.5 GDi turbocharged petrol engine, generating 160 PS of power and 253 Nm of torque, which the company claimed was the most powerful engine in the rapidly growing mid-SUV segment.

The new Seltos is also available with the smartstream G1.5 naturally aspirated petrol engine and the 1.5 litre CRDi VGT diesel engine. Mated with 5 transmission options, MT, iMT, IVT, 6AT, and 7DCT, the new Seltos is available in 18 variants.

"We started our India journey with the Seltos which was a segment disrupter and a segment winner and we are confident the new Seltos will be key to our ambition to achieve 10 per cent market share soon," said Tae-Jin Park, MD and CEO at Kia India.

He said there was a lot of growth potential in the mid-SUV segment and the new Seltos will grow the premium end of it.

"With the refreshed look, most powerful engine in the segment, and host of safety and smart features, the new Seltos inevitably will emerge as the most preferred drive for our new-age customers," Park pointed out.