New Kia Seltos in US gets up to 13 exterior colour and 6 interior trim choices – A lot of personalisation options
Updated Kia Seltos has been launched in the US. There are a lot of changes on both its exterior and interior. Base LX trim prices start from $24,390 MSRP before options. Top-spec SX trim price starts from $29,990 MSRP before options. US pricing roughly translates to Rs. 20.01 lakh to Rs. 24.61 lakh as per today’s currency conversion rates.
Everything That Makes The Kia Seltos New
Kia is offering 2 different powertrain choices on five different trim levels. These are LX, EX, S, X-Line and SX. The South Korean brand also offers an AWD option coupled with both powertrains. This leads to a multitude of combinations which buyers can choose from. Other choices include up to 13 exterior colours and 6 interior trim options.
New Kia Seltos comes off as a much better looker as opposed to its predecessor. There are exterior changes taking inspiration from models higher up the price range in Kia’s portfolio. There is a new grille, sleeker headlights, vertically laid out ice-cube effect LED elements in lower bumper and bull horn effect faux skid plates lending a muscular look.
Kia’s famed Tiger nose is now sleeker and much better looking. New 18” on top-spec trims alloys look swanky. Telluride and Sorento inspired LED connecting tail lights grab attention, making it look premium. On the inside, new Kia Seltos gets panoramic displays, which are two horizontal screens. One for infotainment and the other for instrumentation.
Notable standard features include multi-zone climate control, electronic parking brake, heated front seats, Bose premium audio system, wireless charging, Kia Connect telematics suite and more. Optional payable features include ventilated front seats, smart power tailgate, sunroof and digital key.
New Kia Seltos gets Kia’s ADAS suite as well. This enables auto emergency braking, blindspot detection, smart adaptive cruise control, front and rear traffic detection and avoidance, lane keep assist and high beam assist.
Variants, Powertrains, Drivetrains & Colours
New Kia Seltos get a total of five trim levels. These are LX, EX, S, X-Line and SX. Out of these, X-Line is pegged as the more outdoorsy adventure lifestyle-oriented variant with utilitarian addons. Base LX gets 17” alloys, AWD, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, ADAS functions and more as standard fitment.
With EX and S trim levels, AWD is optional and still doesn’t get the 1.6L turbo engine option. Speaking of, this 1.6L turbo offering develops 195 bhp of power and 264.4 Nm of torque, mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. In comparison to 2.0L NA engine on base models with 146 bhp and 179 Nm mated to an IVT, the turbo is peppier.
Both X-Line and SX trim get 1.6L turbo engine and AWD as standard. Kia offers a total of 13 exterior colours including Steel Grey, Fusion Black, Gravity Grey, Snow White Pearl, Mars Orange, Neptune Blue, Dark Ocean Blue, Pluton Blue, Valais green, Clear White/Fusion Black roof, Dark Ocean Blue/Clear White roof, Pluton Blue/Fusion Black roof and Valais Green/Fusion Black roof.
Total of 6 interior trim choices are offered too. These are Black Cloth seat trim, Black SynTex and cloth seat trim, Blue & Black Syntex and cloth seat trim, Black SynTex seat trim, Brown SynTex seat trim, Green SynTex seat trim. India is awaiting Seltos facelift as well, which is currently in testing. Launch is expected later this year.
