6 new Kia cars coming to India: Hatchback to luxury MPV

South Korean carmaker Kia has an extremely aggressive plan set for India as it looks to settle into the India car market at a rapid pace. According to a report by Carwale, Kia Motors plans to launch a new car every six months until the end of 2021 after the launch of the SP Concept based SUV in mid-2019.

According to the report, Kia has plans to launch three SUVs, an MPV a hatchback and an all-electric car. The carmaker will kick off its journey into India with a Creta-rivalling SUV based on the SP concept shown at Auto Expo earlier this year.

The SP SUV will be based on the Creta’s platform and will share the Hyundai SUV’s 1.5-litre petrol engine. The diesel variant, on the other hand, will see the arrival of a brand new 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. The Kia SP is expected to priced quite similarly to the Creta, though it will bring a whole lot more features and feature a more premium interior and distinctive styling to help differentiate it from its Hyundai sibling.

Kia plans to bring two more SUVs into India with one sitting under the SP and one above. The one under the SP will be a sub-4-metre SUV that is expected to share its platform with the upcoming Hyundai sub-4-metre SUV which could bear the name Styx. Kia’s sub-4-metre SUV is also expected to share the Carlino-based production SUV’s powertrain options as well.

The other SUV will be a premium SUV that will sit above the SP and will be equivalent to the Tucson in Hyundai’s lineup for India. The large SUV will compete with the likes of the higher-specced Harriers and the Jeep Compass. Kia also plans to bring a premium MPV to take on the Toyota Innova Crysta which is unchallenged in the Indian market right now. This new MPV could be the massive Grand Carnival, which in one configuration can seat up to 11 people on the inside.

Another area in the Indian car market set to be targetted by Kia will be the premium hatchback segment where it will have to take on the likes of the Maruti Baleno and the Hyundai i20. The hatchback could end up being the Rio. The final segment that Kia is looking to enter is the nascent electric car segment. Not much is known about the body style of the electric car, though with Hyundai going the electric SUV way with the Kona, it wouldn’t surprise us if Kia followed suit.

Kia is targetting about three lakh units a year per annum by 2021, which is the capacity of its plant in Andhra Pradesh. With this Kia hopes to take around six to seven percent of the market by the end of that by 2021. Kia has 70 dealers marked out for the first launch (SP) and the publication states that the Koran carmaker should aim at 200 touchpoints by the time the first six-car onslauhgt ends.