Kia currently retails only three products in India- Sonet, Seltos and Carnival
Kia Motors will be discontinuing certain variants from its SUV lineup- Sonet and Seltos in India. The HTK Plus trim of Sonet in both- a 1.0-litre turbo petrol unit paired to a DCT gearbox and a 1.5-litre CRDi diesel engine paired to a 6-speed automatic gearbox will be discontinued.
On other hand, HTX Plus trim of Seltos powered by the same 1.5-litre oil burner has also been taken off the shelves. In this case, as well, it is the 6-speed automatic gearbox that has faced the axe. The company has issued an official notification to its dealer partners dated April 1, 2021, to stop accepting bookings for the above-mentioned variants with immediate effect.
As per the email shared with dealers, this has been done based on feedback and booking trend of their customers. Previously as well, Kia had trimmed down the lineup of Seltos and deleted variants that did not attract a lot of customers. Details of the revised lineup of Sonet and Seltos will be officially communicated by the carmaker later.
Updated Sonet / Seltos Launch Soon
Kia India will soon update the Sonet and Seltos with their new logo, which was revealed earlier this year. The first teaser for the same is now out, and can be seen below. In addition to the new logo, Seltos top trims will be updated with panoramic sunroof.
Sonet HTK Plus
The HTK Plus trim of Sonet gets three powertrain options- a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol unit, 1.0-litre turbo petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel unit. After the latest revision, this trim is now exclusively available with manual transmissions since the automatic variants have been shelved off. The NA petrol unit comes with a 5-speed manual, the turbo petrol unit is mated to a 6-speed iMT whereas the diesel unit is paired with a 6-speed manual.
This trim is laced with a decent amount of features such as a Multi-function Steering Wheel, Power Adjustable ORVMs, automatic climate control, all four power windows, touchscreen infotainment unit and power windows. This trim now has a starting price of Rs 8.55 lakh and goes up to Rs 9.69 lakh (both prices are ex-showroom).
Seltos HTX Plus
Coming to Seltos, the HTX Plus is only available with the 1.5-litre diesel unit. Post this revision, it will only be available with a 6-speed manual transmission and it is currently priced at Rs 15.59 lakh. This trim is packed with features such as a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment unit which houses Android Auto and Apple Car, UVO connected car tech, a Bose 8-speaker stereo system, 8-way Driver’s powered seat, 7-inch digital instrument cluster and much more.
Seltos currently rivals Renault Duster, Maruti Suzuki S-Cross and its cousin Hyundai Creta. On the other hand, Sonet has a long list of rivals including Hyundai Venue, Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon and Nissan Magnite to name a few.