Kia Seltos SUV achieves major sales landmark, finds 5 lakh homes in India

Kia Seltos SUV has achieved a major landmark in India since its launch four years ago. The compact SUV which rivals the likes of Hyundai Creta and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara among others, has found five lakh homes since it made its debut in August, 2019. The Korean carmaker made the announcement on Monday, saying Seltos is the fastest SUV to achieve the 5-lakh sales milestone in the country. Seltos SUV has been the best-selling model for the Korean auto giant for the last four years, contributing 55 per cent of its overall sales in India.

Kia manufactures the Seltos SUV at its Anantapur facility located in Andhra Pradesh. It is the highest exported model from Kia for overseas markets. Kia has exported more than 1.35 lakh units of Seltos, manufactured in India, to around 100 countries. Made-in-India Kia Seltos SUVs are sold in countries in Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, as well as the Asia Pacific region. Tae-jin Park, MD and CEO at Kia India, said, “With total sales of about 27,159 units during the first quarter of 2023, the Seltos continues to sell an average monthly over 9000 units even when there are multiple new innovations in the segment."

In March this year, Kia updated the Seltos SUV with changes that make it compatible with the BS6 Phase 2 emission norms. As part of the upgrades, the 2023 Kia Seltos now gets updated petrol engines that are E20 fuel ready. Under the hood is a brand-new 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine that has replaced the 1.4-litre T-GDI unit. The new engine, also used by Hyundai in some of its models, can generate 158 bhp and 253 Nm of peak torque. Seltos also comes with a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The new Seltos now comes at a starting price of ₹10.89 lakh (ex-showroom).

Kia is expected to launch the facelift version of the Seltos in India soon. The SUV has already been introduced in global markets last year. The flagship Kia SUV comes with features like all-wheel drive, Advanced Driver Assistant System (ADAS) as standard across all variants. The looks of the SUV has also been updated with a redesigned front face and new grille, LED headlights along with 17-inch alloy wheels. Kia had also updated the interior of the Seltos facelift with new features such as the 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment display with with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. It also gets leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob besides faux leather seats.