[ajmat]

Originally Posted by aarvee

I have lived in the UK, where people don't treat Korean and Japanese cars with much respect, except of course the Toyota. However, that will not be the case in India where Hyundai has already established itself.

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I beg to defer, the Sportage pops in the monthly UK top 10 best sellers list !

[Guna]

Originally Posted by rovingeye

I saw that too in the morning. TOI just cracks me up. They wrote the car will be priced at 10 lakh period. Well, is it ex showroom? on road? base model? auto transmission? manual? which engine? Pathetic reporting.

When they quote a single price (not a range) it is always the starting price (for the base model), ex showroom Delhi.

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Can someone help me in deciding the right combination based on all these engine and transmission options, or do I need to enroll myself in Automobile engineering course? :-).
How does an average buyer (like me) know if a naturally aspirated engine is better than a turbo, or its more matched towards a particular variant or towards a purpose? Who is going to recommend or educate buyers about these combinations. I am confused. Online articles talk about air intake in engine manifold etc...flies over my head.

When the car will be made available in India your choices will be much narrower than what has been announced. Keep in mind that the launch was a global launch. This means the company has revealed ALL options. It however does NOT mean that ALL these options will be available in India.

Specifically for the Indian market, I believe the options will be limited just like any other manufacturer. Kia will provide one of the AT option along with the MT.

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

When the car will be made available in India your choices will be much narrower than what has been announced. Keep in mind that the launch was a global launch. This means the company has revealed ALL options. It however does NOT mean that ALL these options will be available in India.

Specifically for the Indian market, I believe the options will be limited just like any other manufacturer. Kia will provide one of the AT option along with the MT.

This makes a lot of sense. I believe Kia would then make the decision for us. Thank you for highlighting this. Eagerly waiting for the launch.

[kiku007]

Looks unique and nice; and not not unique and weird

If the GT Line trim is going to be made available then that's great news. I hope Hyundai follows suit with SR, N Line trims.

I think they've gone overboard with the Engine-Transmission combinations. 3 Auto transmissions? Does the target audience even care to know the difference between the three? Anyway, in a market with sparse options let this be a trendsetter.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

Don't get me wrong. The Seltos is a phenomenal product but its not good value especially at the top end where all the turbo fun is. Assuming the DCT with turbo launches at 17 lakhs ex-showroom, the OTR figure is going to be around 21lakhs which is pretty high for a 2x4 1.4l 5 seater. The XUV, Hexa, Compass, Tucson will offer more/better mechanicals at that price point and then there is the Crysta. People complain about the Creta being too expensive for a hatchback on stilts and this is on the same lines unless Kia pulls a rabbit out of the hat with the suspension and 4x4. Imagine the Harrier with a DCT and 4x4 at 17-18lakhs? That would've definitely disrupted the segment.

The Captur actually offered far better interiors than the Duster and it failed spectacularly but the Duster? It continues to sell. I have a Polo GT, Creta Petrol Auto and a Duster CVT. 9 times out of 10 I get into the Duster and it cost me the least of all three.

Hi! I get what you're trying to say but I was talking about market dynamics in India and not comparing the products. The Duster may save you money but I being a consumer and in 2019 won't spend a single penny on that vehicle thanks to the numerous options available. If I'm buying a vehicle, I want that feel good factor in the interiors as that's where I'm going to be the most of the time! The Duster fails in that Criteria miserably and it pinches even more as one has spent more than 10 Lakhs to get that vehicle. Also, the Duster indeed sells now too but only for it's ruggedness and that kind of sales figure aren't enough to sustain a brand like Renault. Also, we cannot justify an inferior product just because it sells. No offense to the owners.

Regarding the mechanicals, let's not forget, the Seltos will be a Turbo Petrol and is getting a proper GDi engine. Hence, I feel it's not fair to compare the same with any other car except Compass because none of them offers that in the market. Moreover, if priced at 17 Lakhs with that Equipment list and 140 HP on tap mated to a 7 Speed DCT along with Terrain modes makes it a phenomenal value for money.
Even though Harrier has a bigger heart, it's a heavy vehicle too. The car doesn't feel spirited and it's specifications echoes the same. The Compass feels grossly over priced now.

[mh09ad5578]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

The Captur actually offered far better interiors than the Duster and it failed spectacularly but the Duster? It continues to sell. I have a Polo GT, Creta Petrol Auto and a Duster CVT. 9 times out of 10 I get into the Duster and it cost me the least of all three.

The only people loving the duster are owners who have used it long term. But without upgrading the interiors the sales can only decline. Though I'm a satisfied duster owner the next car I'm buying won't be it because I know it's more than a ten year old platform and I've got better equipped though smaller options in the market for the same budget. Hope that's not of topic. Kia has a winner if it can price it well. And I think they will.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by Iyencar

It was only people who had a deep understanding of the market that complained. The common folks lapped up the Creta and have made it one of Hyudai's biggest success stories. It's not that Indians don't have money to burn, they just want to see something aspirational to spend it on.

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Its actually the other way around. People who keep calling the Creta as an i20 on stilts have no understanding of the product! The Creta and i20 do not share platforms and not much is common between them except some things like the 1.4 CRDI engine and few other small parts like instrument cluster etc.

Nothing significant is common between the Creta and the i20. Even things like the power window switches are different. In fact, the Creta is manufactured at a different plant where only the Tucson and the Elantra are manufactured alongside. All other Hyundai cars are manufactured in a second plant within the Hyundai premises in Chennai.

I bought both the Creta and the i20 last year, and I often drive them back to back, and believe me, they are two very different cars. Im not trying to say that the Creta is an SUV, rather my whole point is to get people to realise the above!

And similarly, we have people asking if the Seltos would be a hatch on stilts! I mean, get an understanding of what it is before coming to conclusions.

[akhil_rpmlover]

Thoroughly impressed with what Kia has done with the Seltos. The fact that they are bringing so much engine-gearbox combinations shows how serious and dedicated they are to our market. Further, the same engine-gearbox combinations might make its way into the other three products launching in next 2 years. The sheer number of options to choose from is really interesting, Black/ Beige interiors, GT Line and even the alloys.

Interesting thing to note is that, like Sidpatankar mentioned, Kia might surprise us with the pricing. Considering they are playing with the "Power to surprise" tagline. There might be a huge variant list so that the starting sticker price might be much lower to garner attention. The top of the line, loaded to the gills trim will be priced even premium to the Harrier, I believe. Of-course being a new entrant, they can't just start with asking a lot of premium.

Watched the whole event in YouTube and one thing I was expecting, was something about their warranty package. Read that Kia offers 7 year warranty schemes in the middle east and other regions. Let us hope Kia brings in something like that to inspire more confidence among the customers.

I'm unable to understand how they will pull out a launch in August end. In Kerala for instance, although the dealers are appointed, there isn't much news as to the progress in showroom construction. I think it's the same almost everywhere.

Really do wish Kia the very best !

[nitinhegde]

Originally Posted by Guna

TOI printed edition mentions the starting price of 10 lakhs! I don't know if there is any merit to it or it is just a speculation.

I didn't see any adv. in TOI today atleast in Pune edition, can you please precise where did you find this?

[RajeevSharma]

All transmission options will be manufactured in India so, why would they not offer all of them in India!

Their differentiation is also very clear:

1. Manual transmission on all models.

2. CVT on 1.5 ltr petrol

3. DCT on 1.4 Turbo Petrol, &

4 Conventional AT on 1.5 ltr diesel.

I feel all of the above will be made available in India.

[nitinhegde]

Do we know if T-GDi GT line (7DCT) will be launched at the beginning itself i.e. in August end?

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by RajeevSharma

I feel all of the above will be made available in India.

Agreed. Also now that they have made everyone believe the same, it would be foolish to say that it was a global launch. Why advertise the features that are not going to be there in the Indian car. I too feel they will offer all 3 transmissions and they were quite clear regarding which engine will be mated to which transmission.

[RJ411]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Thanks a ton for making it simpler. Mods may move this out, but I still feel this is a relevant question.

Now, one last time, please tell me in "natural" language, for our legendary Bangalore traffic (!) where now there are official traffic curbs in place for FOUR years, and for a corporate guy like me (read: de-spirited, devoid of all fun), 50kms drive per day (which feels like 500), which is the best combination?

Believe me, I will buy your suggestion with my eyes closed, assuming other approvals comes by :-).

As per the official release we can see 3 different types of Transmissions.
- AT (Traditional torque converter)
- CVT
- DCT - For Turbo petrol only

But I am not sure whether all of these will be offered in India.

Considering that you are already clocking 1000 Km's a month (50 Km's * 20 days minimum) + the additional run about, I think we are in the border between petrol & diesel

Considering that you are in Bangalore where the traffic situation is worse, If I were in your shoes I would close my eyes and go for Petrol Auto/Diesel Auto
depending on the variant, price, features/comforts etc.,

But please do note that in our traffic Petrol AT's will always yield singe digit mileage (Max of 9-10 kmpl)

Thanks.

[jailbird_fynix]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

It however does NOT mean that ALL these options will be available in India.

Originally Posted by RajeevSharma

All transmission options will be manufactured in India so, why would they not offer all of them in India!

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Why advertise the features that are not going to be there in the Indian car.

As far as engines go - all engines are BS-6 compliant and as per reports, will be available in India. Reportedly, there's also a terrain management system that lets drivers choose between mud, wet and sand mode, depending on the surface.

Originally Posted by nitinhegde

Do we know if T-GDi GT line (7DCT) will be launched at the beginning itself i.e. in August end?

Probably yes, as the GT line has been confirmed for India.

Originally Posted by nitinhegde

I didn't see any adv. in TOI today atleast in Pune edition, can you please precise where did you find this?

Speculated price is Rs 11 - 17 lakhs. Bookings to start by 2nd week of July & launch will be by end-August.