Kia India sells 14,005 Seltos SUVs in November, contributes 5.6% to global sales

Kia Motors India’s strong performance in November 2019, when it sold 14,005 Seltos SUVs, has given a boost to Kia Motors’ global sales. With this, the made-in-India Seltos has notched cumulative sales of 40,581 units in barely 4 months, which gives it a monthly sales average of 10,145 units and the No. 4 automaker position. Not surprisingly, the Seltos is already the No. 1 best-selling SUV in India.  

With 14,005 units last month, it should be the best-selling UV for November too. The petrol/diesel model-wise split is balanced at 51:49. Of the 26,576 units sold between August-October, 13,569 buyers opted for the petrol Seltos and 13,007 for the diesel model. 

Kia Seltos sales in India
August: 6,236
September: 7,554
October: 12,786
November: 14,005
Total: 40,581

Very solid going for a new brand in the Indian market and a robust performance which has given Kia Motors India a 4.85% UV market share till end-October. What has helped the Seltos cut through India's UV market is Kia's ability to match production with demand and a sound marketing strategy of offering multiple engines, multiple gearboxes, multiple variants and at multiple price points.

Kia Motors India says it has received 86,840 bookings for the Seltos till date and, to ensure timely deliveries, has started the second shift to ramp-up production at its manufacturing facility in Anantapur. The company says it will not close bookings as the plant is fully capable of meeting the rising demand for the Seltos. 

What is helping the BS VI-compliant Seltos make headway in the competitive Indian SUV market is its very aggressive pricing. The Korean carmaker's pricing strategy for all of 16 variants covers virtually every price point and starts from Rs 969,000 (for the entry-level petrol Smartstream G1.5 HTE model) and goes up to Rs 15.99 lakh (for the diesel 1.5 CRDi HTX plus (6AT) and Petrol Smartstream 1.4 T – GDI GTX (7DCT) and GTX plus top-end variant). With this, it takes on rivals like the Hyundai Creta, MG Hector, Nissan Kicks, Mahindra XUV500 and the Renault Captur in India.

Manohar Bhat, vice-president and Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia Motors India, said: “We are ecstatic to witness the tremendous responses for Seltos which is now leading the UV segment. The 100 day-journey of Kia Seltos has been nothing short of a delightful ride. This is a true testament to positive growth and the trust that the consumers have shown for us. We will continue to grow and surprise the country with Seltos and our upcoming products.” 

Kia Motors India's plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh is capable of producing 300,000 units annually and has already started a second shift. The company says it is expanding its network to more than 300 touch-points by the end of March 2020. The company is closely observing the Indian market and has shortlisted areas like the northeast, northern part of Telangana, Karnataka, western Rajasthan for the proposed expansion.

Made-in-India Seltos contributes 5.6% to Kia's global sales
Kia Motors Corporation today announced November sales of 248,942 units, led by popular models including the Seltos and the Sportage SUVs. The November results were marginally higher (0.80%) than the 246,942 sold in the same month a year ago.

Sales in Korea posted 48,615 units, almost on par with 48,700 sold in November 2018, led by the continued popularity of the Seltos entry SUV, which hit the market earlier this year. Shipment of K5 midsize sedan, however, dropped last month as customers lined up for the launch of the all-new generation K5 model due to be launched in the Korean market later this month.

Sales outside of Korea climbed 1.1 percent to 200,327 units from 198,242 a year before, backed by strong sales of SUV models such as the Seltos in India – 14,005 units –  and the Telluride flagship SUV in the US.

The Sportage SUV was Kia’s best-selling model globally with sales of 40,541 units last month, followed by the K3 (Forte) sedan and Rio (Pride) subcompact sedan models.

Kia says the introduction of the all-new K5 in Korea later this month is expected to provide fresh stimulus to the company’s home market and the momentum will likely expand to overseas markets through 2020.

Also read: Top 5 UVs – October 2019 | Kia Seltos becomes India's No. 1 UV within 3 months of launch

Top 10 PVs – October 2019 | Kia Seltos and Maruti S-Presso break into bestsellers' list