[sri_tesla]

Mod Note: Please discuss only Kia here. Other manufacturer's sales volumes can be discussed in our upcoming October sales thread.

Kia sold 12,850 seltos SUVs in October to become the 5th largest brand in India. Its commendable achievement to outsold total sales of Toyota, Honda, VW group, Renault with a single product. They are also just slightly behind 4th placed Tata motors. All these brands have multiple low end models in their portfolio.

With huge backlog of bookings and recently announced second shift to increase production to 15,000 units per month, its only a matter time to cross the sales of Tata Motors and may be even Mahindra. With roadmap of one new product every 6 months and the upcoming compact SUV in mid 2020, Kia will most likely reach top 3 just behind Maruti and Hyundai.



Source:
https://www.rushlane.com/car-sales-o...-12331782.html

[SJM1214]

Isn't it due to the new launch hype? There is no denying that Seltos is a good vehicle and attracted amazing numbers of bookings. But with Toyota and Renault just behind Kia, it will be tough for Kia to maintain this position.

[Durango Dude]

Commendable performance with just one product to hit the sweet spot with the buyers. I don't think any other car has been launched with so many engine, gear box options and variants before.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Has Creta ever breached this number? 12,850 must be a segment-best figure! That's almost into Maruti Suzuki territory.

Like GTO mentioned in the Hector review thread - poor Maruti is looking on helplessly. Kia, with the Seltos, is obviously reaping fat profits and numbers in this segment.

On the flip side - the ugly new Creta has to deal with very tough competition now.

[Rajeevraj]

Commendable achievement. But need to see how they sustain over the next year and build thier portfolio. Even the kwid when launched , I remember had big numbers initially, but then fell off into the 'Other than Maruti and Hyundai' category.

Great start though and all the very best to Kia to build on this spectacular launch. The ability to ship 12k+ units shows commitment to deliver.

[GTO]

What's equally impressive is that Kia has hit the no.5 position NOT with some mass-market hatchback or a cheap sedan. It's with a 12 - 20 lakh rupee premium SUV. Just think of the profits. Kia & MG have definitely shown how to enter a new market with a bang!

Mod Note: Please discuss only Kia here. Other manufacturer's sales volumes can be discussed in our upcoming October sales thread.

[Sebring]

Can we discuss what clicked for Kia in India! For me it was the massive, overwhelmingly classy showrooms and very presentable staff that was welcoming. Suddenly they were everywhere, North, South, East & West Bangalore, all screamed Kia. It was also their choice of category (Creta), that 'killed it'! So welcome Kia, you've done a great job, and may you continue to enthrall us - in the years to come.

[AnandB]

Hopefully they launch a model above Seltos as the 20-30 lac range is missing good Suvs. The price difference going from Seltos and Suvs like Fortuner/Kodiaq is huge. Only one i can think of is Tuscon and even with awesome diesel engine feels dated in features and interiors.

[Kpaaz]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Can we discuss what clicked for Kia in India! For me it was the massive, overwhelmingly classy showrooms and very presentable staff that was welcoming. Suddenly they were everywhere, North, South, East & West Bangalore, all screamed Kia. It was also their choice of category (Creta), that 'killed it'! So welcome Kia, you've done a great job, and may you continue to enthrall us - in the years to come.

Not all showrooms are big enough. The showroom from which i have booked is pretty small with just two cars parking space inside. Still they are killing it! As someone rightly said above that they have hit the sweet spot of the Indian buyers with the SELTOS!

True that they have chose the best segment category to enter the market. I just hope KIA brings us some good tidings in after service also.

[REN]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Can we discuss what clicked for Kia in India! For me it was the massive, overwhelmingly classy showrooms and very presentable staff that was welcoming.

Agreed. Take my hometown Tirupur for example, we never get the big, plush showrooms like nearby Coimbatore does. Most manufacturers have small showrooms and service centres. Lot of them don't even have body shops here and send the car to Coimbatore every time for body work. But not in the case of KIA. This is the first time, as far as I know, Tirupur gets a full-fledged showroom that's as big as Coimbatore's. While I was already impressed by the car, the brilliant showroom experience and service set-up they had in place in my hometown fully convinced me to cut the cheque. To be present in 160 cities at launch showed how serious they're about India and it seems people have responded.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Has Creta ever breached this number? 12,850 must be a segment-best figure!

I just had a quick look at the numbers. Looks like 11702 units dispatched in October 2018 remains the highest ever, for the Hyundai Creta.

Seltos - the new sales king of the segment? Hope they can keep up this momentum once the initial hype is over!

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Seltos - the new sales king of the segment? Hope they can keep up this momentum once the initial hype is over!

I'm sure we'll see sales right up to the 15k mark till they eventually stabilize around 10k, breaking a lot of records during that journey.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I just had a quick look at the numbers. Looks like 11702 units dispatched in October 2018 remains the highest ever, for the Hyundai Creta.

Seltos - the new sales king of the segment? Hope they can keep up this momentum once the initial hype is over!

Hyundai always had production constrains, the Creta had to share the production line with i20, which always sold in large numbers.

Kia needs to make just one car now, the Seltos, also unlike MG, they had Hyundai supporting them and hence had contacts with local vendors, even before they thought of starting operations here.

Once the i20 production moves to the Kia plant, even Hyundai products will see better dispatches than now.

[Arjun Reddy]

The strategy of Hyundai and Kia will always be to look at the combined market share.

Hyundai has a capacity of 6 lakh cars and Kia has a capacity of 3 lakh cars per annum. If they run at full capacity and if their sales and products support them,we are looking at a sizeable chunk of the market. They are already at 22% combined. This will only increase as Kia starts to produce more and sell more.

Way to go Kia. Congratulations on a stellar arrival.

[ajmat]

I feel that sales over a couple of months do not really define whether Kia is the 5th largest car brand. We would need to look for sales over a year or so. We've seen many such blips and they become squeaks. I doubt Kia will let that happen though.

An example is the Tesla 3, in August it was the UK's 3rd best selling car. It does not make it the 3rd largest brand. The fact is that Tesla most probably fulfilled most of its UK bookings in running a large batch. Come September, no sign of Tesla in the top 10