Korean carmaker, Kia Motors India, which made its debut with the launch of its first product Kia Seltos on August 22, 2019, has today announced to bring a feature re-jig to the crossover’s variant line-up. Pricing of the refreshed Seltos starts at Rs 989,000 ex-showroom, India.

The Seltos, which has become a runaway success for the company, has sold 81,716 units since launch in August 2019 to end-March 2020 which makes for monthly sales of 10,214 units and the No. 1 UV title too. While it is premature in the auto industry for a carmaker to be bringing any updates to a model as fresh as nine months old, Kia’s step can be assumed to have come in response to the launch of the Creta from Hyundai – its sister company giving it the homegrown competition, which  starts at Rs 999,000 ex-showroom, India.

Feature shuffling
The refreshed Seltos now comes equipped with 10 novel features, encompassing the facets of safety, convenience, connectivity and design, over and above other key enhancements.

In addition to this, many existing features in the higher variants of the SUV like panoramic sunroof are now available in lower variants too, thus setting new segment benchmarks and enhancing its class-leading performance. Furthermore, based on market research and customer preference, the company has also decided to discontinue two of its variants – Smartstream Petrol 1.4T-GDI GTK and GTX 7DCT.

While all Seltos variants get an emergency stop signal (ESS) as standard, the HTX, HTX+, GTX and GTX+ variants along with all automatic transmission variants get a host of connectivity feature updates such as smart-key remote engine start, voice-assist with ‘Hello Kia’, voice-assist for the air purifier and smart-watch app connectivity among others.

The HTX+ and GTX+ variants also get dual-tone option on sunroof as well as a new dual-tone orange-white exterior paint scheme.

In terms of features moving down to the lower variants, eight features including rear USB charger, leatherette gear knob, metal scuff plates and black leatherette interior among others have been brought down from earlier being offered in the top trims.

According to Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO, Kia Motors India, “The Seltos marked the arrival of the Kia brand in India. It laid a strong foundation for Kia in the country and as a vehicle; it has been a true game changer in the Indian automobile industry. With the refreshed Seltos, we are making India’s favourite SUV even more attractive with new features and options. The Seltos enabled us to address all the unmet needs of the segment, and with the next-gen technology in the refreshed Seltos, we are confident that we will deliver customer delight that is unparalleled. The refreshed Seltos is the result of a deep understanding of the Indian automotive market, and our customers’ desires and requirements, and we are confident it will continue to win hearts for Kia in India.”

He also added, “During these unprecedented conditions, we have innovated to ensure the safety of our customers as well as that of our employees, business associates and staff at our dealer and service network. Our pioneering efforts in offering a complete end-to-end digital purchase experience have helped us address customer concerns and to provide a safe, convenient and enjoyable purchase process.”

Similar to the previous version of the Seltos, the refreshed version will continue to be available in two distinct design lines: Tech Line aimed at family-oriented customers and GT Line aimed at enthusiasts who are young at heart.

Direct face-off with Creta
Launched on March 16, the second-generation Creta is based on the same platform as the Kia Seltos, albeit the two crossovers are different when it comes to their design approach. Moreover, while the two crossovers come with similar powertrain options that include a 1.5-litre 113bhp petrol, 1.5-litre 113bhp diesel and a 1.4-litre 139bhp turbocharged petrol, the major differentiation lies in terms of their feature distribution.

Within two months since launch, the Creta has bagged over 24,000 claimed bookings and as a result, with the feature reshuffling, Kia has addressed the concern and tried to pull the maximum audience away from Hyundai. In any case, the volume and profit remains within the Hyundai Motor Group, albeit with a different customer approach and brand perception.

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