Kia Seltos pros and cons — Almost perfect?

It’s not often that the very first product from a carmaker in a new market is a superhit, especially when the market in question is India. It is an established fact that the Indian automotive market is a tough nut to crack, but Kia has somehow aced it with the Seltos first, and then the Sonet. What makes the Seltos one of the most popular SUVs in India? Here are some of the key Kia Seltos pros and cons according to us.

Kia Seltos pros 

Sense of premiumness inside the cabin

Typical of Kia cars, the cabin experience is significantly better than most rivals, especially the touch and feel of materials and the overall sense of premiumness due to the attention to detail regarding surfaces and CMF. The Seltos gets stylish door trims, a fine steering wheel, and multifaceted speaker housings, all of which come together to elevate the commuting experience.

Appealing and distinctive styling

The Seltos is also one of the best looking cars in the segment, thanks to Kia’s bold approach to design with a large tiger nose grille at the front, distinctive headlamps, connected rear lamps, and likeable alloy wheel designs. The SUV stance further works in the car’s favour and the overall styling does the job pretty well. While we are at it, here are some used Kia Seltos cars that you can check out if the car's on your list of buying considerations.

Diverse range of powertrain options

Kia offers a variety of engine and gearbox combinations on the Seltos including a naturally-aspirated engine with a manual and a CVT, a turbo-petrol engine with an iMT and a DCT, and a diesel engine with a manual, an iMT, and a torque convertor. The Seltos get the option of a clutchless manual (iMT) with the turbo-petrol and diesel engines, which the Hyundai Creta misses out on. But, an option which the Seltos lacks is a manual gearbox with the turbo-petrol motor, which can be had on the Hyundai Creta N-Line.

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Loaded with tech, comfort, and safety features

You won’t have much to complain about on the features’ front as the Seltos comes loaded with them. Key Kia Seltos features include an 8-speaker Bose sound system, ventilated front seats, panoramic sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, UV cut glasses for the windshield and windows, two 10.25-inch screens on the dashboard — one for instrumentation and the other for infotainment, rear sunshades, leatherette seats, ESC, TPMS, Level-2 ADAS functionalities, and more.

Kia Seltos cons

Expensive higher-spec variants

As you go higher up the variant ladder, the Seltos starts getting significantly pricier, making other sub-compact SUVs in India seem more value for money. You do get more features and a better experience on the higher variants, but they come at a hefty premium.

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No wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

This one’s a bummer as missing out on wireless smartphone connectivity in a car that costs as much doesn’t make sense in today’s market. Cars belonging to a segment or even two lower than the Seltos support wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and even the smaller 8-inch infotainment system on the Seltos itself has it, but the higher-spec variants with the bigger 10.25-inch system still miss out on the same.

Related: Exclusive: Hyundai to roll out wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay next year — Confirmed!

Doesn’t have the best mileage in the segment

Keeping the diesels aside for a moment, the petrol engines on the Seltos aren’t the best in segment in terms of fuel efficiency. There are cars such as the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara (and the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder) that deliver much better fuel efficiency numbers even without the hybrid powertrain.