The Kia Seltos has finally been unveiled in India and there’s a lot that this car offers. Styling, Features, Powertrain – it seems to have got everything on point.
Kia has finally taken off the wraps of their Seltos SUV in India. With the Seltos as their first product, Kia marks their entry into the Indian market with quite a sensational car. Today also marks the global unveil of the Seltos SUV as it is simultaneously being previewed in the USA as well.
The Seltos is really a head turner in terms of design. The details are amazing and it lives up to all that hype that was created about its design. The face is dominated by the bold ‘Tiger Nose’ grille finished in knurled chrome with very fancy looking LED headlamps that are connected by a light bar atop the grille. The Seltos also gets a contrasting roof, vertical LED fog lamps, a chrome-finished window line that rises sharply towards the rear, roof rails and a chunky chrome bar connecting the tail-lights.
There are many bold cuts and sharp character lines all across the car. It really brings out the muscular stance of an SUV, especially the wide haunches at the rear quarter. Even the bumpers are sculpted with several lines which adds a lot of dynamism to the design. The 17-inch alloy wheels have been very well designed as well. The sqaured wheel-arches and the body claddings further screams out SUV.
The biggest news with the unveil of the Seltos are the powertrain options. It gets a 1.4L, turbocharged petrol engine which will be paired with a 7-speed DCT. The show car also had a ‘GT line’ badge, meaning we are finally going to have a sporty SUV in this segment. Also on offer will be the 1.5L, petrol and diesel engines as was expected.
The other big news are about the transmission options. There will be two more automatic transmission options, them being a CVT and a 6-speed torque converter. There will also be a 6-speed manual gearbox option. That’s a total of three engines and four gearbox options. This is the first time any car in this segment would be available with so many configurations. The exact engine specifications, however, have not been revealed yet.
The interior design language of the Seltos is very fresh and unique for the Indian market. The infotainment screen takes center stage on the dashboard and the same panel is connected to the instrument console. Below, there are the horizontally stacked AC vents. Further down on the center console, there’s a rectangular digital screen for the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit with a single dial on the screen for changing temperature or airflow.
The interiors really seem premium and you can either have it in beige or black color schemes. The dashboard is mostly black but what really lifts up the interiors are the generous use of faux brushed-aluminum trims used on the steering wheel, door pads, air-con vent surrounds and on the center console as well. There’s even a passenger sided grab bar that beautifully flows down from the climate control display unit.
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Boy is the Seltos loaded with features and technology! It comes numerous segment first features, some that we only saw in much more expensive some time ago. The car comes with 10.25 inch touchscreen infotainment system, LED mood lighting, a 360-degree camera, wireless charging, push-button start, drive mode selector, in-car WiFi, rear window curtain, a 8-speaker Bose audio system, and also an 8-inch heads up display.
That’s not all folks. On the safety front, the Seltos gets robust structure with the hot stamping body panels, 6 airbags, ABS, ESC, Hill Assist Control, Hill Hold, Vehicle Stability Management, Traction Control, Brake Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring System and more. It also gets UVO connected car technology like we saw in the Venue and the Hector. It will basically allow you to perform several functions through a smart phone app. Also, it gets Artificial Intelligence-enabled voice command services, remote engine start-stop, remote-controlled air purification and car air quality monitor.
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The Kia Seltos will be launched later during the festive season. Kia is expected to keep the price of the car very competitive but it might be on the higher end of the segment considering the level of equipment on offer. The Seltos, if priced right will quite easily outdo the competition because from first look, it seems very promising indeed. The Kia Seltos will take on the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Nissan Kicks, Renault Captur, MG Hector, Tata Harrier and the likes.
