Kia Motors Post Highest Monthly Sales In January 2020 (Image: Kia Seltos) (Photo Credit: File Photo)
New Delhi:
With the launch of Seltos in August last year, Kia Motors entered the Indian market with the bang. Recently, Kia Motors announced its upcoming premium MPV i.e. Carnival. With only one product in the Indian market, Kia Motors India Limited has been on a roll. It is to be noted that in the first month of the year 2020, Kia Motors has recorded its highest monthly sales volume as 15,450 units (including some units of Carnival) were sold against 4,645 units in the previous month with 232.6 per cent MoM sales growth. The automaker finished fourth among manufacturers ahead of Renault, Tata, Honda, Toyota, Ford and others.
Kia Seltos is available in Tech Line and GT Line trims, each of which is offered in five variants - E, K, K+, X, and X+. Kia Seltos is available in 16 variants. The Tech Line gets a more premium appearance with a beige and black cabin with leather upholstery. On the other hand, the GT Line gives sportier look to the Seltos with an all-black cabin, black leather seats with red contrast stitching. The GT Line also gets a sporty looking bumper.
Kia Seltos comes with BS-VI compliant powertrain. The SUV comes with an option of a 1.4-litre Turbo GDI petrol engine that produces 138 bhp and 242 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed automatic transmission. The SUV comes to a 1.5-litre diesel engine that churns out 113 bhp and 144 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to a 6-speed manual and an IVT (Intelligent continuously variable transmission) automatic transmission.
Also, Kia Seltos comes with a 1.5-litre VGT diesel that belts out 113 bhp and 250 Nm of torque. It is paired to a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The compact SUV is available in normal, eco and sports drive modes. It also gets different traction modes like Snow and Mud.
The mid-size SUV has the iconic tiger-nose grille with full LED headlamps on the front and vertically housed LED fog lamps. On the rear, the car will be equipped with LED taillights and dual exhaust pipes.
Along with 17-inch five-spoke dual-tone alloy wheels, the compact SUV comes equipped with roof rails and shark fin antenna. Inside the cabin, the new Kia Seltos features a 10.25-inch touchscreen audio video navigation system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
The compact SUV also gets features like 8-inch HUD (Heads Up Display), blind-spot view monitor, EPS (Electronic Power Steering), eco coating, three-spoke multifunction steering wheel, and push-button start/stop. The compact SUV is available in eight monotones and five dual-tone colour options.
On the safety features front, the car carries multiple airbags, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and BA (Brake Assist), reverse parking sensors and camera, the compact SUV also gets VSM (Vehicle Stability Management), ESC (Electronic Stability Control), TCS (Traction Control System) and HAC (Hill-start Assist Control). There is a 360-degree camera as well.
Kia Seltos has seen a price hike recently and is being sold between Rs. 9.89 lakh and Rs. 17.34 lakh (ex-showroom).
Coming back to Kia Carnival, the 5115 mm-long MPV has a width and height of 1985 mm and 1755 mm, respectively. The wheelbase stands at 3060 mm while the ground clearance has been measured at 171 mm for the Carnival. The car weighs 2102 Kg. Visually, Kia Carnival comes with the tiger-nose grille at the front which is housed between wraparound headlamps and framed fog lamps on the sides. On the back, there is a small spoiler and wide. On the inside, it gets features such as touchscreen infotainment display, chrome detailing, and two sunroofs.
Kia Carnival draws power from a 2.2-litre diesel engine that churns out 197 bhp and 440 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to an 8-Speed automatic gearbox. The Carnival will be manufactured at the company's plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
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It is expected that Kia Carnival will be priced between Rs 24 lakh to Rs 30 lakh (ex-showroom). After the launch, Kia Carnival will compete against Toyota Innova Crysta in India. Kia Carnival will arrive in India via the CKD route.
