Kia India will launch the all-new Seltos on Friday, setting pace for an extremely busy car launch month. Sources told FE that the next-generation Seltos will be priced starting Rs 10.99 lakh, ex-showroom, and the top-end variant will be priced Rs 19.99 lakh.
The new Seltos is bigger and wider than the outgoing model, and yet is priced just Rs 20,000 extra – the outgoing model is priced Rs 10.79-19.81 lakh. Engine specifications remain the same – two petrol and one diesel – but the new Seltos is developed on the carmaker’s global K3 platform, and promises to have better ride and handling.
Its main competitors are Hyundai Creta, Tata Sierra, Maruti Suzuki Victoris and Grand Vitara, and Toyota Hyryder.
Seltos Reset and Mahindra’s 7XO Evolution
Kia India’s MD & CEO Gwanggu Lee said that, with the new model, the carmaker wants to redefine the midsize SUV segment by raising standards across space, safety, technology, and ownership. “The new Seltos reflects our long-term commitment to offering well-balanced, future-ready SUVs designed for modern Indian families,” he said.
Immediately after the new Seltos, Mahindra will launch the XUV 7XO, which is a major facelift of the XUV700 – and will have a design inspired by EVs.
By the middle of this month, Maruti Suzuki will finally do the market launch of its first EV, the eVitara – an EV it has showcased multiple times, but has just shied away from launching.
EV Transition and the Return of a Legend
Around the same time, Nissan will drive in the Gravite – a compact, 7-seater MPV based on the Renault Triber platform, and Skoda has the Kushaq facelift coming up.
This month, Tata Motors will start customer deliveries of the Sierra, and launch the Harrier and the Safari powered by a newly-developed petrol engine (these SUVs were previously available only in diesel).
The month will be rounded up by possibly the biggest brand name launch – on January 26, Renault will reintroduce the Duster brand in India, which it had discontinued in 2022.
