Kia Motors registers a record sales as a debutante car manufacturer in the opening month, over 6,200 units sold in August 2019
Kia Motors, the South Korean car brand had recently launched the Seltos mid-SUV in India marking its debut in the country and received an overwhelming response as far as the bookings go. On the first day of the opening of pre-bookings, Kia announced an overwhelming 6,046 units booked in just 24 hours. Then by the time Kia started the production last month, it had garnered more than 23,000 bookings.
But these were just bookings as everyone was waiting for the actual sales numbers and the first-month sales data is here. Kia has sold outstanding 6,200 units in just one month in August 2019. It’s a record sales for a debutante car manufacturer in the first month in the history of Indian automotive industry. Also, Kia Motors enters into Top 7 Cars manufacturer list beating Skoda, VW, Jeep, Nissan, Datsun and Isuzu along with all premium car manufacturers.
Showcased at the 2018 Auto Expo as the SP2i concept, the Seltos name has been inspired by Greek mythology and the legend of Celtos, the son of Greek god Hercules. The Kia Seltos is manufactured at the company’s newly installed car manufacturing facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and the company at the time of the launch announced that they had already produced 5,000 cars in 1 month.
Interestingly, the MG Hector, its nearest competitor sold 2,018 units last month, and 1,500+ units in July 2019. Which means the combined sales of Hector has been less than that of Seltos’ 1-month sales. Also, MG announced to roll-out 5,000th unit from its Halol plant. The other rival, Tata Harrier is doing 1,500 units a month. While MG announced to close bookings after receiving a good response, Kia took a jibe at MG and said they will never stop bookings.
However, the nearest competitor to the Kia Seltos is its cousin Hyundai Creta which is similar in size and price and is the segment leader. The Kia Seltos was launched at Rs 9.69 Lakh (ex-showroom) and there are 16 variants on offer.
Kia is offering the Seltos in 3 engine options, 4 gearbox options, a multitude of features (many of which are segment-first) and UVO connected technology. The Kia Seltos is available in 13 colour options, 5 dual tone and 8 single tone.