Kia has been launching several products since its arrival in India and has a vision to launch more products due to lucrative Indian market. The Seltos is one of the best performer car for Kia. Seltos is known for its stylish design and all packed features including premium cabin characteristics.
Though Kia has always positioned Seltos as a SUV vehicle however, it has limited off-tracking capabilities. And that is primarily because Kia Seltos was never positioned as an off-roader, but was placed as an urban SUV. However, it already comes with an All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) variant in the international market.
Kia Seltos AWD option?
Replicating the design and leveraging Seltos AWD variant capabilities from International market to India context would not be that difficult. It will provide an opportunity for Kia to add a Seltos AWD offering in India. This will also give Indian buyers an added option.
AWD variant
The recently launched Seltos facelift is based on Kia’s SP2i platform. This platform is wider and longer compared with previous version of Seltos and it has been designed for developing market like India. SP2i platform is being leveraged from original SP2 platform in United States on which Kia Seltos is based on.
In the US, the AWD variant is offered with 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated petrol and 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine options. Similar
Competition & Indian consumers
The Indian market does not have enough competition in the AWD space. Currently only few players such as Mahindra and Toyota are offering AWD variants. Kia might think to wait until they get substantial sales indicators of AWD variant from other brands before they decide to take on the ride. Alternatively, Kia might roll out AWD option when it decides to launch a new generation Seltos in the future.
The Indian consumer behavior matters most since they might be reluctant to opt for an AWD variant if the product is expensive. It makes sense to offer AWD option for Kia before it gets added by all big names in their product offerings.
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