Ahead of its India launch on August 22, Kia Motors has started rolling out mass-production units of the Seltos from its manufacturing facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. This comes just seven months after the carmaker had commenced trial production of the SUV at the plant.
Kia’s Anantapur plant spans 23 million square feet and has come up with an investment of USD 1.1 billion (around Rs 7,600 crore) from the carmaker. The facility has an annual production capacity of 3, 00,000 units, which will be achieved over the next three years. In addition to the Indian market, the plant will also cater to export demand from countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Apart from the Seltos, Kia is also planning to manufacture around four new models at its factory in the next couple of years.
As is already known, Kia Motors will offer the Seltos with three BS6-compliant engine options – 115hp, 1.5-litre petrol and diesel motors, and a 140hp, 1.4-litre turbo-petrol mill. All three units will come with 6-speed manuals as standard and also get automatic gearbox options. The 1.5 petrol gets a CVT, the 1.5 diesel comes with a 6-speed torque convertor, and the 1.4 petrol is coupled with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic.
In terms of variants, the Seltos will have two separate lines that consist of different trims. First up, there will be a Tech-line variant that will be available in HTE, HTK, HTX and HTX+ trims. The Tech-line will be available with either the 1.5-litre petrol or the 1.5-litre diesel engine. The Seltos GT-line will include GTE, GTK and GTX trims and will be available with the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine option only.
The Seltos seems to have garnered a lot of attention from potential buyers, with the SUV receiving over 23,000 bookings already. Kia is expected to price their first product in India in the range of Rs 11 lakh to Rs 17 lakh (ex-showroom), which will see it rival the Hyundai Creta, MG Hector and Tata Harrier. By the time the SUV goes on sale on August 22, Kia plans to have a network comprising 265 touchpoints across 160 cities in India.
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Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
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Saptarshi Mondal
