The Seltos was the most sold Kia model in February 2021 with Sonet closely behind in second ahead of the premium Carnival MPV
Kia Motors India recorded a cumulative domestic tally of 16,702 units in February 2021 as against 15,644 units during the same period in 2020 with a Year-on-Year volume increase of 6.8 per cent. The South Korean auto major garnered 5.4 per cent market share last month with a drop of 0.8 per cent and finished fourth in the overall manufacturers’ standings.
The brand’s biggest launch in 2020 was undoubtedly the Sonet as Kia expanded its portfolio to adhere to the needs of customers in another hotly contested segment. The compact SUV has lived up to the expectations and rose to the top of the sales charts in a short span of time, and is posting appreciable sales tally every month.
The Sonet competes against Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger, Honda WR-V and Mahindra XUV300 in the fiercely competitive space. It is sold with a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel and a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing around 120 PS and 172 Nm of peak torque.
| Kia Models (YoY) | Feb 2021 Sales | Feb 2020 Sales |
| 1. Seltos (-41%) | 8,305 | 14,024 |
| 2. Sonet | 7,997 | – |
| 3. Carnival (-75%) | 400 | 1620 |
The five-seater has similarities with the Hyundai Venue and last month, nearly 8,000 units were recorded as it finished closely behind the Seltos. The stakes in the mid-size SUV segment were elevated higher when the Seltos entered the domestic scenes as the brand’s first product back in August 2019. Despite leading the way for many months, the Seltos gave up the leading position to the Hyundai Creta.
This was mainly due to the arrival of the second generation Creta early last year and over the due course of the second half of 2020, the SUV extended its gap to the Seltos further. While the Creta was the most sold SUV in the country last month with more than 12,400 unit sales, the Seltos finished second in its segment with 8,305 units.
When compared to the same period in 2020 with 14,024 units, the Seltos recorded a noticeable volume de-growth of 41 per cent. The Carnival MPV managed to garner 400 units in February 2021 as against 1620 units during the corresponding month in 2020 with 75 per cent decline in volumes.