The Kia ‘Seltos’ name has been inspired from Greek mythology where Celtos is the name of the Son of Hercules and the improvised ‘S’ stands for ‘speed, sportiness and strength.’
The undisguised images of the Kia SP SUV that surfaced online last weak revealed everything about the design of the new SUV. The images revealed another key detail about the SUV and that is the name ‘Seltos’. Kia has now officially revealed the name of their first mid-size SUV. The production version of the SP2i concept that was showcased at the 2018 Auto Expo has indeed been named as the Kia Seltos.
The ‘Seltos’ name has been inspired from Greek mythology where Celtos is the name of the Son of Hercules. The ‘S’ in the name has been improvised and stands for ‘speed, sportiness and strength.’ The Seltos will primarily be targeted to an young audience and such attributes are important for the potential buyer of this car.
Mr. Manohar Bhat, Head – Marketing and Sales, Kia Motors India, said, “We have spent a lot of time in perfecting our car to suit the taste of the Indian customers and I am glad that this originally India intended car is so perfect that it compelled us to make Seltos available globally.”
In fact, Kia has also confirmed that the Seltos will be available with connected car technology, something we are seeing in all the recent launches from the Hyundai Venue to the MG Hector. As in these two cars, you will be able to lock/unlock your Kia Seltos and even set the climate control remotely through your smartphone.
As we have seen from the spy images, the Kia Seltos looks pretty similar to the Kia SP Signature concept that was showcased at the Seoul Motorshow. The wheels have gone down a size at 18-inches with 225/45-section Kumho tyres but they continue with the dual-tone design for the alloys. The face is dominated by the bold ‘Tiger Nose’ grille with very fancy looking LED headlamps that are connected by a light bar atop the grille.
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The Kia Seltos will also be pretty well loaded in terms of equipment. Kia revealed some interior sketches of the Seltos some time ago and from those images, we know that the Seltos will have a large touchscreen infotainment system, a 360-degree camera, wireless charging and in-car Wi-Fi. A head-up display and an ambient lighting will also likely be on offer on the top-spec variants. It also revealed a drive mode selector on the center console with ‘Off-road’ marked on the dial which means that the Seltos will also have some level of off-road capability.
At launch, the Kia Seltos will come with a 1.5L petrol and a 1.5L diesel engine. The engines are likely to be BS-VI ready but could launched as BS-IV compliant at launch. There will be choice of both automatic and manual transmission. Kia is also working on a sportier variant of the Seltos that will be powered by a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. It will churn out 140 hp and will even come with paddle shifters.
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The Kia Seltos is all slated for its global unveil on the 20th of June. The launch will be followed in a few months time when the Seltos is expected to be priced around Rs. 10-16 lakhs, ex-showroom. When launched, the Seltos will go up against the Hyundai Creta, the Renault Captur, the Nissan Kicks, the Tata Harrier and even some lower variants of the Jeep Compass and the MG Hector.
