Kia Seltos, the first-ever model for the Indian market from the Korean carmaker, will become substantially costlier from January 1, 2019
Kia Motor India entered the Indian car market with the Seltos SUV in August 2019. In its short tenure in the local market, the Seltos has managed to quickly become the largest-selling SUV in the market. The high demand for the Seltos has, in fact, even helped its carmaker settle on the fourth spot of the list of top 10 carmakers in the country in terms of volume.
Last month, the total sales of Kia Motors India stood at 14,005, which helped the carmaker claim a close fourth sport on the list, with Mahindra making it to the third spot with 14,240 unit sales. The first spot went to Maruti Suzuki, with a total sale of 1,39,133 vehicles, while the second spot was taken by Hyundai with a net sale of 44,600 units.
In fact, the demand for the Kia Seltos has been such that its sales performance in November 2019 was even higher than October 2019, when most carmakers clocked their best-ever sales performances due to increased demand in the festive season. In October 2019, the carmaker had sold 12,854 units of the Seltos.
| OEM (+/-%) | November 2019 | November 2018 |
| Maruti Suzuki (-3.3%) | 1,39,133 | 1,43,890 |
| Hyundai (2%) | 44,600 | 43,709 |
| Mahindra (-6%) | 14,240 | 15,155 |
| Kia | 14,005 | 0 |
| Renault (77%) | 10,882 | 6,134 |
| Tata (-43%) | 10,400 | 18,226 |
| Toyota (-22%) | 8,312 | 10,721 |
| Honda (-50%) | 6,459 | 13,006 |
| Ford (-15%) | 5,392 | 6,375 |
| MG Motor | 3,239 | 0 |
Recently, the carmaker notified its authorized dealership network that it plans to hike prices of the entire range of Kia Seltos with effect from 1 January 2020. The carmaker has asserted that the current prices of its maiden offering were in accordance with the introductory offer and are bound to see a ‘substantial’ upward revision from next month.
Clearly, given the high demand for the SUV, the company is confident that the price hike won’t have any sort of negative effect on the popularity of the Seltos. Currently, the Kia Seltos is on sale in a price range of Rs 9.69-16.99 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). It has been available in three engine variants, which include 2 petrol and 1 diesel option.
The base petrol motor comes in the form of a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated unit that outputs a maximum power of 115 PS and a peak torque of 144 Nm. Transmission options for this motor include a 6-speed manual and a CVT unit. The diesel engine option comes in the form of a 1.5-litre oil-burner that produces a maximum power of 115 PS and a peak torque of 250 Nm. Transmission option for this motor include a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque-converter automatic unit.
The top-of-the-range engine option is a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol unit that produces a maximum power of 140 PS and a peak torque of 242 Nm. The transmission choices for this motor include a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed DCT automatic transmission.
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