The upcoming Kia sub-compact SUV seems to be in the final stages of production as seen in this spy shot. It will debut at the 2020 Auto Expo in a production-ready form.
Kia Motors is going to showcase new concepts and its upcoming India products at the 2020 Auto Expo. Its biggest showcase will be the Kia sub-compact SUV, which is based on the platform of Hyundai Venue but will look completely different.
Ahead of the launch, we have spotted Kia testing its sub-compact SUV on the roads of Delhi NCR. Although camouflaged, but looks the SUV is almost ready to debut. The spied test mule looks like one of the low-end variants because you can spot the steel wheels.
Most likely, Kia will showcase it next month and will launch the SUV by the second quarter of this year. The launch date will be near to August as the company wants to strengthen its position in the Utility Vehicle Segment.
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The Kia sub-compact SUV will most likely borrow its engine from Venue. The 1.2 Litre petrol engine and the 1.0 Litre turbo-petrol unit, in their BS-6 compliant forms, will come on the Kia SUV. Hyundai will mostly discontinue the 1.4 Litre diesel engine that powers the Venue, Elite i20 and base variants of Creta and Verna.
Expect the power figures to also remain the same as that of the Venue. Kia’s small SUV could also use the same gearbox options that come on Venue. Going by that assumptions, the petrol and diesel variants of Kia SUV will come with a 5-speed MT/6-speed MT. The 7-speed DCT will come with the turbo-petrol variants.
It will be interesting to see if Kia small SUV also gets the GT Line and Tech Line trims. Some styling similarities to the Seltos can be expected like the latter’s Tiger Nose Grille and the long LED DRL strip on the grille.
Also Read: Kia Seltos Price Increased; Now Starts At Rs 9.89 Lakhs
Expect Kia to price its upcoming small SUV from 7-11 Lakhs (ex-showroom). Its price will be similar to that of Venue, which is due to receive BS-6 engines. The rivals for the upcoming sub-compact SUV will include Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Venue, Honda WR-V and Mahindra XUV300.
