Kia is casting its net wide as far as powertrains are concerned. The company has already brought the EV6 and EV9 to India, and with the Syros EV, it now has its second made-in-India electric model after Carens Clavis EV, arriving as part of a roadmap that stretches out to 2030 and covers electric, strong hybrid and CNG.
In an interview with Autocar Professional, Atul Sood, the Kia India executive overseeing the Syros EV launch, laid out a plan for 10 models by 2030, eight of which will carry some form of electrified powertrain. In Kia's framing, that category stretches beyond pure EVs to include strong hybrids, reflecting a bet that Indian buyers will not settle on a single technology anytime soon. "We're looking at the complete gamut of technologies available," Sood said. "We want to give all options to our customers, so then we leave it to them to decide what they want to go in for."
That multi-path approach is most visible in the Seltos. Sood confirmed that Kia is working on a strong hybrid version of the SUV and said the company's present focus is on localizing the technology so it can be offered at a competitive price. He declined to give a timeline. Asked directly whether Kia would follow sibling brand Hyundai in offering a fully electric Seltos, in the mold of the Creta EV, Sood did not rule it out but said only that Kia is "studying" the option, with no concrete plan yet in place.
CNG is the other piece Sood said is under active development. Kia does not yet offer a factory-fitted CNG model, relying instead on retrofit options for the Carens, but Sood said engineering work toward a factory-fitted version is "strong work in progress," even as he declined to specify when it might arrive. He added that Kia's study is not limited to its existing multi-purpose vehicles, and is being extended to other models in the lineup as the company assesses where CNG demand is strongest.
On Syros EV, Sood said Kia deliberately avoided positioning the car within a single price segment, arguing that EV buyers tend to decide on the powertrain before settling on a segment or body style. The car is offered with two battery packs, a longer-range option tested at 526 kilometers and a 42-kilowatt-hour version rated at 443 kilometers, aimed respectively at long-distance and city or short intercity use.
To support adoption, Kia is also introducing an 80 percent buyback guarantee after three years for personal buyers, along with a lifetime warranty on the high-voltage battery both, for now, limited to first owners and part of the introductory offer. Sood acknowledged that tying the warranty to the vehicle rather than the buyer, so it would transfer to a second owner, could do more to build resale confidence in the broader used-EV market, and said Kia is studying that possibility.
On overall performance, Sood said Kia's sales grew about 26 percent in the first half of the year against an industry-wide growth rate of roughly 20 percent, lifting its market share to 6.2 percent from about 6 percent a year earlier. He pointed to strong demand for the 2026 Seltos, which he said grew nearly 65 percent in the B-SUV segment during the same period, compared with about 40 percent growth for the segment as a whole. By 2030, Kia is targeting annual sales of 410,000 units, translating to a 7.6 percent market share, a target that depends, Sood suggested, less on picking the right technology than on being ready with all of them.