Angular faced, updated Kia Seltos coming but when still unknown

Its local market confirmation unsure until now, Kia has indicated that the facelift Seltos will be coming to South Africa, although it has remained tight-lipped as to exactly when.

Differences

Showcased towards the end of 2022 in the United States and then last year in India, the latter being the sourcing destination for local market-bound models, the Seltos will again take-up station between the Sonet and Sportage in Kia’s line-up, although for the time being, it remains unknown if any unique changes will be applied.

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Sourced from South Korea for the United States, which means small aesthetic differences from the model assembled at the Anantapur Plant, the Stateside Seltos also features different engines and transmission options, plus the absence of a diesel engine.

Only confirming the Seltos’ market launch as “imminent”, without going into detail as to exactly when, Kia also declined to provide hints of any likely changes relating to specification, saying it “prefers not to divulge any information” before the eventual launch.

Unsurprisingly, this also includes sticker prices. As a comparison, the US-market Seltos offers either a normally aspirated 2.0-litre petrol engine or a 1.6 T-GDI, while the Indian variant gets a free-breathing 1.5-litre petrol, a 1.5-litre turbodiesel and the 1.5 T-GDI sister brand Hyundai uses in the Creta and Alcazar.

Locally, the Seltos can be had with one of three powerplants: a 1.6-litre petrol producing 90kW/151Nm, the 1.5-litre oil-burner rated at 86kW/250Nm and the older 1.4 T-GDI that pumps-out 103kW/242Nm.

New tech

Based on the changes applied to the Indian model, the Seltos could benefit from the dual 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system and digital instrument cluster on higher-end models, the new climate control panel and a wireless smartphone charger.

As it stands, none of the mentioned features have been confirmed, thus leaving their additions open to speculation for now.

Wait and see

In terms of pricing, the relative changes will result in a price increase over the current Seltos, which kicks off at R465 995 for the entry-level 1.6 EX manual and concludes at R561 995 for the 1.4 T-GDI GT-Line DCT.

The Seltos’ first mid-life update since its South African unveiling four years ago, expect more details to be announced within the coming weeks and months.

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