South Korean company Kia is all set to make a splash in the Indian market and the very first launch from the brand for the country will be the sold under the name of Seltos in the country. Kia Seltos will be presented in country on June 20. Upon launch later this year, the Seltos will be placed in the compact SUV segment and will lock horns with SUVs like the Tata Harrier and Mahindra XUV500 in the Indian market. Now the brand has released a tease for the upcoming SUV.
The new teaser from the company features the camouflaged version of Seltos as the SUV traverses an array of terrains. Perhaps the intent behind releasing the video was to show to the prospective customers that the latest offering from the brand has been tested for all kind of weather conditions by the company.
There is no concrete time frame regarding the launch of the vehicle in the Indian market, although the South Korean maker has shifted the launch of the SUV to an earlier date. Ahead of the teaser, the SUV from the brand had been seen in all its glory sans camouflage while it was out for the shoot of a TVC.
Although, the upcoming SUV from Kia is based on the platform that underpins the new version of its sister company Hyundai’s Creta, Kia will place the Seltos above the Hyundai offering in the market. The Seltos is supposed to be a more premium offering with loaded interiors and features list.
The feature list is likely to come loaded with offerings like electric parking brake, electric sunroof, ambient light, 10.2 inch touchscreen supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging, hill hold assist, quiet mode with driver-talk mode for the Bluetooth interface, ventilated seats, driving modes, steering assist modes, adaptive cruise control, ambient lighting, idle-stop function and paddle shifters.
The leaked images of the Seltos suggest that Kia has not left any stone unturned as far as the exterior design of the SUV is concerned. The headlamp setup of the upcoming SUV is again something that has been trending in the car market as of now and we can see that there are sharp headlamps present on the SUV along with a LED DRLs underneath. The fog lamps are placed in the lower part of the bumper and there is also the signature Tiger nose grille present at the front, just like the sketches released by the brand.
As far as the mechanical aspect is concerned, the diesel engine options on the upcoming SUV could be the 2L engine rated to deliver around 150 Bhp and the petrol engine could be a 1L turbo petrol unit rated in the vicinity of 120 Bhp or a 1.4L turbo petrol unit rated for around 140 Bhp. Earlier there were reports that the Kia Seltos could come with the same engine options as the Creta in Indian market. However, the launch date of the Seltos puts it closer to the BS-VI emission norms deadline and this could mean that the company will offer compliant engines right from the start. There are hopes that the two engine options could come with automatic transmission options as well.