Kia Seltos closes on 1 lakh sales mark in seven months

Kia Seltos, which was the first vehicle from the brand launched in the Indian market last year became extremely popular in the Indian market after its launch. The all-new mid-size SUV that challenges the vehicles like Hyundai Creta climbed to the top of the sales charts and remained there for a long time. Kia Seltos is currently the best-selling vehicle in the segment and in just seven months, Kia has managed to sell more than 80,000 units of the car in the market. This sales figure comes when the market is going through a slowdown and the recent lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak in India.

Kia stopped all their wholesale billings on 16th March 2020, which ensures that the dealerships don’t amass unsold inventory. Kia dispatched as many as 15,644 units of the Seltos in February 2020 and in the month of March, the dispatch number came down to 7,466 units. Kia’sother car, the Carnival MPV’s dispatch number stands at 1,117 units in March.

The Seltos mid-size SUV started selling in March 2019 and since then, the manufacturer has sold 81,784 units of the vehicle in the market. It remains high in demand even now. The Seltos was launched with three different engine options in the market including the 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel and the most powerful of all, the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine option.

With the three different engine options, Kia offers three different automatic transmission options. With the naturally aspirated petrol, it offers a CVT transmission while the diesel variants offer the 6-speed automatic transmission. The 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine offers the 7-speed Dual-Clutch automatic transmission. All three engine options also offer the 6-speed manual transmission as standard.

The sales of the Seltos are expected to be affected in the coming months due to the launch of the all-new Hyundai Creta. Launched earlier this month, the all-new Hyundai Creta shares the platform with the Seltos and even offers the same engine and transmission options. The Seltos continues to offer a range of features that are unique to the car including the HUD.

Kia is currently working on the upcoming Sonet that will be launched in the Indian market later this year. The Sonet will be a sub-4m compact SUV that was showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo and it will take on the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport and Hyundai Venue and more. Kia is also working on the electric version of the Seltos that will be launched later this year or by early 2021.