[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Kia has sold 5,347 units of Seltos in July, whereas Hyundai sold 17,350 units of the Creta.

Even with the updated facelift, and recent rejigg of variants, features and colors, Seltos is not able to keep up with Creta.

Seltos is missing top end petrol IVT which is denting their numbers. Many customers are looking for all bells and whistles in petrol automatic at a reasonable price and do not care about DCT or diesel AT due to various reasons.

It could also be due to brand fatigue. Seltos had an appeal for folks looking for fresh design but that charm is slowly fading as Seltos is becoming common place. If I had to chose between 2 commonplace cars (Seltos vs Creta), I'd go for brand Hyundai.

Kia needs a big refresh to keep sales ticking again.

[kgt.v8]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Kia has sold 5,347 units of Seltos in July, whereas Hyundai sold 17,350 units of the Creta.

Even with the updated facelift, and recent rejig of variants, features and colors, Seltos is not able to keep up with Creta.

Someone at Kia needs to be realistic with the price increase. This is not the time when you can keep increasing price every 3 to 4 months. The prices of iMT variants have increased twice since Jan 2024.

Kia needs HTX+ CVT and top end model with CVT (similar to Creta SXO IVT). Creta SXO IVT has the longest waiting time as per 2 different dealerships that I have enquired in past 2 months.
I understand Kia does not want to dilute GT badge by providing NA engine with CVT gearbox. Kia should launch HTX+(optional) variant with same feature set as newly launched GTX. This variant can compete with Creta SX Tech variant.

[mizu]

Originally Posted by kgt.v8

Kia needs HTX+ CVT and top end model with CVT (similar to Creta SXO IVT). Creta SXO IVT has the longest waiting time as per 2 different dealerships that I have enquired in past 2 months.

I think the waiting times are hugely inflated by the dealers, I went in trying to buy SX(O) CVT and multiple dealers told me 30-60 days.

I mentioned that I have a Mahindra XUV booking which will get delivered in 30 days, and they suddenly reduced waiting time to 20 days.

Then I pitted the dealers against themselves, and both got ready to give me a car in stockyard -or- a fresh allotment in 10-12 days max.

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Kia has sold 5,347 units of Seltos in July, whereas Hyundai sold 17,350 units of the Creta.

Even with the updated facelift, and recent rejig of variants, features and colors, Seltos is not able to keep up with Creta.

A testament to the saying - Customer is the King !

I think with these figures , Seltos is at one of it's lowest or rather back to pre-FL levels, which is a quite shame for such a good car.

Originally Posted by kgt.v8

Someone at Kia needs to be realistic with the price increase. This is not the time when you can keep increasing price every 3 to 4 months. The prices of iMT variants have increased twice since Jan 2024.

Well said!

Where other prominent manufacturers are offering chunky discounts on their signature models, folks at Kia are still flying high in the COVID era I think.

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Kia needs a big refresh to keep sales ticking again.

More than the refreshes, what they really need is to 'refresh' their dealers or rather their mindset of fleecing the prospective / repeat customers.

I just had a very bad experience of a malpractice with the Kia dealer in Goa today when I was just going to register my car. Unbelievable as to what levels they can get down to. The dealer however has assured me a solution by tomorrow before I register my car, hence I shall refrain from posting it yet.

But seriously, Kia India - if you guys are reading this, PLEASE get a hold of your dealers ASAP; else you'll soon have cars rotting in your yards with limited takers.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

More than the refreshes, what they really need is to 'refresh' their dealers or rather their mindset of fleecing the prospective / repeat customers.

I just had a very bad experience of a malpractice with the Kia dealer in Goa today when I was just going to register my car

My experience was opposite with Kia dealer when I visited them pre-covid era. SA was well informed, dealership experience was wow and they promptly refunded my booking amount when I cancelled the booking after covid lockdown. May be things have changed now.

Contrary to that, folks at Hyundai dealership were bunch of arrogant, with take it or leave it attitude and had to follow-up multiple times for refund (they made me visit showroom to collect refund cheque). After all that, eventually I ended up purchasing Creta couple of years later but still had to endure same experience at another dealership. Hyundai service has been top class, so no complaints there.

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

My experience was opposite with Kia dealer when I visited them pre-covid era. SA was well informed, dealership experience was wow and they promptly refunded my booking amount when I cancelled the booking after covid lockdown. May be things have changed now.

You're right. My experience too was similar when Kia had just launched in India. They did feel quite 'premium' and customer centric than say to Hyundai.

But things have changed significantly post COVID and sadly have not improved much since then. This problem is quite prominent with Kia since in most states they have just ONE dealership enjoying all the monopoly, unlike say Hyundai.

[manofinfinity]

Kia Seltos D HTX IMT Comes Home,
Hello, Bhpians we recently acquired Seltos 2 months ago in June and here is my ownership review after 2 months and how Seltos which was never in our consideration was finally selected.
Buying Process & Options Considered:
We had 3 cars in our garage Hycross VX Hybrid, a 2018 Vento TDI Dsg and a 2012 Ritz D Manual, we decided to replace the Ritz as it was bought used in 2019 and had over 1.5L km and more so there was too much work that needed to be done both mechanically, cosmetically and the total expense would cross 2L.
We were looking for Hatchback or Compact SUVs In the 10-12L budget, this is where the challenge begins there are tons of options in this bracket and if you increase your budget by 1-2L another lot of options come up so here are the options we considered and test drive:
1. Baleno Amt: Very Well-rounded package it was perfect for our needs and there was a discount of 1.5L, The Top variant which we were considering had everything booked once and almost finalised, the only con was the low height, and average amt gearbox, FE claimed was about 20 but in reality gave only 15, still was on our list.
2. Kia Sonet D At HTX- Again complete package was about 3L more expensive than the Baleno, with no discounts nothing, In the end, this was preferred over the Baleno due to the better TC gearbox and most importantly diesel engine which had a lot more power and was vastly better to drive than Baleno, has more GC, Ventilated seats, Sunroof, and all gizmos, interior quality was way better than baleno, hence we booked Sonet also and also decided to look at other options.
3. Grand Vitara Sigma At-Test Drove one and It became my favourite car from the options and was my top preference only because of its beautiful chassis, fantastic ride quality and overall was a segment above both Baleno and Sonet in terms of space and everything, was getting good discount also hence it was coming out cheaper than Sonet.
4. Creta E Diesel Manual-Again was considered as it was in our budget so why not, base model e comes with bare bones, I learned that everything can be fitted from outside, and all genuine parts and fitment are readily available, studied the whole base to top Conversion thing and pricing of everything, but at the end, Creta was dropped as we want an AT and fitting everything from outside felt like a hassle and not worth it.
5. Seltos HTE D Manual- It was similar to Creta and was better equipped than Creta but was cancelled due to the same reasons we wanted an AT.
A special mention on GV, what a complete package, and again I was blown away after the test drive, it was my first time driving GV and was just blown away by the handling, ride quality and comfort, good roads, bad roads GV can handle anything with ease, even at high speed it was stable as a rock and steering was also different in comparison to other Maruti cars it had decent feel and feedback, truly a beautiful chassis and at that price, great value too, booked one and was almost finalised.

Here comes the twist as we were waiting for our GV some car broker/dealer informed us about huge discounts on unsold 23-year models and how every manufacturer has some unsold lot that we can look at, as a matter of fact, the car market is down since past 6 months and dealers are finding it difficult to move new cars, next week started inquiring all nearby Hyundai and kia dealers about available 23 models cars, mostly top model petrol Creta or Seltos were available, with a discount of about 1 to 1.5L they were still out of our budget,
we were also okay with the top model Sonet D AT but nothing, then after a week we decided to wait for an update, then suddenly after 4,5 days got an update about the 23 Dec manufactured Red Seltos HTX D, the dealer was not sure about whether it was AT or MT, told us to wait till evening, in the evening he informed us that it is D IMT, and the discount was about 2L,
Of course, we got a much more discount on insurance after much negotiation.
As we had test-driven IMT and were familiar with its pros and cons so we decided IMT was a fair tradeoff for the great deal that we were getting, HTX is loaded with gizmos, a panoramic sunroof, and leather seats it was fully loaded and it is way better than manual we immediately booked it, went for a PDI everything seemed good, from the dealer side we got 3D mats, nothing else and hence was finalised, took delivery the next day.
Can't believe that we actually got the Seltos and not anything else honestly it was not in our consideration as it was way out of our budget and at that price after discount and everything we are very happy with how things turned out, a reminder to everyone that customer is the king literally.
We were from the beginning looking for good value for a money package and with the kind of discount, we got it was seriously shocking for us too that we got such a sweet deal.
here are my observations of the actual car after 2000kms and 2 months:

Exterior, Looks, Build:
1. Looks Sensational and with the facelift it looks even better, overall proportions are good, has a very balanced and neutral design.
2. HTX comes with matt grey 17’’ Alloys, which look great and fill the sidewall much better, also alloys of mid variant are much better than GTX as they provide more sidewall.
3. I quite like the connected LED DRLs and connected strip at the rear, looks futuristic and cool.
4. Paint Quality is strictly average.
5. Doors have good heft and shut with proper thud, bonnet and tailgate felt light in comparison.

Interiors, Space, Features:
1. The dashboard is well laid out and sits low, everything is ergonomically placed.
2. I like that there are physical buttons for everything including volume knobs for volume.
3. Interior quality is very good almost the best in the segment, there are no squeals out rattles anywhere.
4. HTX comes with a white-tone interior and white leather upholstery which brings an airy feeling inside the cabin.
5. Both Front Seats provide excellent comfort and at some level even better than in my Hycross.
6. The Panoramic Sunroof is a gimmick for sure, it is good to have but you will forget it after some time.
7. The 10.25-inch screen is great to use, is high resolution, slick and inbuilt maps are also very good to have and work as expected.
8. There are so many features and settings for one to grasp and also some of them I find are just gimmicks and nothing else.
9. The space and overall cabin width inside itself feel generous, one surely doesn’t feel cramped, giving you the feeling of a bigger car.

Ride Quality, Handling, Performance:
1. The engine for one is very refined and smooth there are next to no vibrations inside the cabins or anywhere.
2. Comfort levels are great, we did two long trips and found Comfort to be superb, and suspension smoothens everything on the road and works silently.
3. Handling I find is strictly average, nothing too exciting, I was expecting more from the Seltos as I have driven a facelifted one and it was a hoot to drive this one just does not impress in any regard, Handling is balanced and in isolation is very good but I was expecting more.
Maybe it is because of the softer suspension setup in the new facelift and it has affected the overall handling, maybe it’s too early to judge the need to spend more time with the Seltos.
4. A major negative I find in terms of handling is the steering feel and feedback, it feels vague and doesn't provide much in terms of feel and feedback.
5. After using the IMT gearbox I find it is a great alternative to regular MT, but it is not for enthusiasts, they are better off with a manual or AT.
6. IMT works well almost 90 per cent of the time but at times I find it confusing and it is not as fun as an MT or smooth as AT.
Also, I find the 1st,2nd, and 3rd gear ratios quite small, after 3rd gear, the overall experience becomes better, I hope the overall smoothness of IMT improves after 1st service.
Note on FE:
This is where the Seltos excels, Everyone in my family was shocked at the kind of FE that the Seltos can deliver, I was expecting good FE anyway because of IMT but the kind of FE I am getting is truly beyond my expectations, we have never owned a car with this good FE, in the city it gives anywhere between 15-18 kmpl and on highways 20-24kmpl consistently, I was truly shocked when I saw 23-24kmpl on the current trip FE on the mid and this is all during the run-in period before even 1000kms it is getting better day by day, Very much satisfied with overall FE I am getting.




In isolation, Seltos is a great product, very much satisfied with the overall experience till now, truly a no-nonsense choice.

[Mr Anderson]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Kia has sold 5,347 units of Seltos in July, whereas Hyundai sold 17,350 units of the Creta.

Even with the updated facelift, and recent rejig of variants, features and colors, Seltos is not able to keep up with Creta.

Well Hyundai has been in india since 1998 while Kia came more than 20 years later in 2019.

Hyundai was already a well established brand by then that had its dealerships down to the smallest of towns in India and multiple dealerships in tier 2 and tier 3 cites. Currently, they have 5-6 times the number of dealerships as compared to Kia pan India.

Obviously if a person doesn't have an easy access to a Kia dealership but a Hyundai one is easily accessible in his town, he will opt for Creta only as Seltos is never an option for him.

Judging by the difference in reach of both brands, Kia is doing exceedingly well(1/3rd the sale with 1/6th the dealerships as compared to hyundai)and they are comming up with more dealerships everyday. But it will take sometime for them reach the level of Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra and Maruti in terms of reach who already have a 20+ year headstart.

[shamanth]

Adding to this, Hyundai has made radical change to looks of Creta, Earlier Seltos was much better looking car compared to Creta, but not the case anymore, Seltos is due for major change, its almost same look from last 5 years. So the extra 5-6k Seltos used to generate is taken away by Creta recently.
Even earlier GTX+ model of Seltos had that binge with Red brake liners and red line, now GTX model looks same a base version, don't know what KIA was thinking.

[Col Mehta]

While there is no denying that the number of Kia dealership is lesser, the declining sales of Seltos does remain a serious concern. Kia is doing not so bad overall, but the Seltos isn't. With the same number of dealership, Kia was able to sell the FL Seltos in a far greater numbers until last year (actually the number of dealership could very well be lesser than what Kia currently has). So what happened? - Hyundai facelifted the mighty Creta and the Seltos started losing its charm over the Creta on many fronts, including not offering the NA IVT combo/no lighter interiors on its top trims, comparatively inferior ride and comfort and overall brand value, among other reasons. Just a quick look at the sales figures before and after the FL Creta sums it up.

Obviously, Kia is relatively new in the market and doesn't have a wider network, but it doesn't mean that consumers are not buying the Seltos because they never heard of it. LOL. Ofcourse some will not buy it because they don't have a nearby dealership, but let's not forget that it didn't stop Kia to sell the Seltos quite handsomely in the recent past. So Kia does have the capacity to sell it more, but hasn't been able to do it since the FL Creta.

I think there are two different aspects of this ongoing discussion - 1) Kia as a brand is doing fine. 2) The Seltos as a product is not doing that great anymore and that's why the argument is presented that Kia needs to re-strategize to compete better in the segment. Now with Tata barging in with the Curvv, Kia will have to make sure that the Seltos remains relevant in the segment. Thankfully we have started seeing Kia waking up and taking steps in the right direction but still more needs to be done, otherwise we will keep seeing many more Seltos eating dust at dealers' stockyards and being sold on discounted quotes, which is quite unfortunate really because it's arguably the only true competitor to the Creta in the segment and deserves better sales.

[kgt.v8]

The newly launched GTX is competitive to Creta. Creta SX(O) IVT is ₹18.73 lakh ex-showroom. You can pay ₹25k more and get GTX with DCT gearbox.

[Mr Anderson]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

While there is no denying that the number of Kia dealership is lesser, the declining sales of Seltos does remain a serious concern. Kia is doing not so bad overall, but the Seltos isn't.

Obviously, Kia is relatively new in the market and doesn't have a wider network, but it doesn't mean that consumers are not buying the Seltos because they never heard of it. LOL. Ofcourse some will not buy it because they don't have a nearby dealership, but let's not forget that it didn't stop Kia to sell the Seltos quite handsomely in the recent past. So Kia does have the capacity to sell it more, but hasn't been able to do it since the FL Creta.

I think Seltos facelift over performed with much higher sales than expected when it launched. Partly because it looked better than creta with a lot more features and last gen creta arguably looked hideous . So a lot of potential Creta buyers turned to Seltos. Yet Hyundai's brand reach kept Creta marginally ahead of Seltos.

It was always obvious that facelift creta would out perform seltos given that it's not that bad looking any more and infact it gives a tough competition to seltos in terms of looks (which still looks better than creta imo) and has all the features of seltos facelift and is much more easily available.

The sales that seltos is generating now is what should have always been expected. It's back to being balanced after the unexpected hype it got when launched.

It's still better than Honda's and the VAG twins sales by a long shot. Only Maruti, Hyundai, Tata and Mahindra have better sales and that is how it should always have been.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by kgt.v8

The newly launched GTX is competitive to Creta. Creta SX(O) IVT is ₹18.73 lakh ex-showroom. You can pay ₹25k more and get GTX with DCT gearbox.

Price comparison from Carwale
Attachment 2635439

Fair point but thing to note is that SX(O) is top end and fully loaded whereas GTX is not. Only someone who is interested in DCT over IVT and ready to pay more but settle for less features would opt for GTX.

[BhayanaV]

Has anyone replaced wipers on their Seltos. Online search throws up different sizes and so does shopping sites. Wanted to explore if I can go one size longer on driver side, have done same on my ecosport with no issues and better wiping coverage.

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by BhayanaV

Has anyone replaced wipers on their Seltos. Online search throws up different sizes and so does shopping sites. Wanted to explore if I can go one size longer on driver side, have done same on my ecosport with no issues and better wiping coverage.

I changed to bosch clear advantage and they are performing well while looking better. The driver side is 24" and passenger side is 18". The bosch ones were about 2mm shorter than the factory ones but I havent had any issues.