[Joxster]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

The Kia Seltos ads are one of the most irritating automobile ads I have seen. What are they trying to convey through these ads?

Originally Posted by NAVREVV

Even i don't understand! Except the fact that meerkat and Tiger Shroff have some sort of bitter rivalry. Other than that no focus on displaying what car offers! Money wasted by Kia!

Originally Posted by panamera13

The ads are representative of the confusion people have about Kia's variants and engine.

We don't know why tiger and Meerkat have a rivalry and we don't know the price/variants..LOL

Originally Posted by NAVREVV

Only thing i understood from the add that meerkat wants to play spoil sport for some reason. Other than that it makes no sense what so ever. lol

Originally Posted by pannags

You bet! I still don't get what the car, an elderly gentleman, the meercat and Tiger have to do with each other.

Now that you mentioned this, their earlier ad depicting a myriad of creatures walking into a cloud formation was annoying to say the least.

Originally Posted by isldhn

I see a lot of people talking about the Seltos advertisement. Well, it looks like Kia has hit the nail on the head with it. The sole purpose of an advertisement is 'recall factor' and I think they have successfully done that, be it the meerkat or the ever popular and latest youth sensation- Tiger Shroff.
IMO the advertisement are fresh and have a bit of a comic feel to them.
I love what Kia is bringing on the table first up and I think that this is going to go a long way for them establishing their brand in the lucrative Indian market. There are always supposed to be hits and misses as is the case with any new launch. We cannot expect perfection especially when the critics are Team Bhpian's ;-).

For anyone wondering (like me) why there is so much of discussion around this, these are the ads in question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-yxqdMTBHo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_0Lfl8OAIE

Cheers

[lovesujay]

Originally Posted by RJ411

Though I am not in the market for a new car, but I have been going through this thread and the Hector one. The difference between both is really alarming and not looking good for Kia.

I am honestly sad and worried on how Kia is doing things, right from packaging the variants, booking experience etc., This is not looking good for a manufacturer who is just starting fresh. Particularly when your other new competitor (MG Hector) is going all big bang and getting most things right.

The only thing that is waiting now is the pricing. If they get

You are hundred percent correct. It started with the removal of top end in DCT. From there, it has never looked good at any point of time. I was planning to buy DCT in exchange for my old Innova. As I am not in any hurry, I shall wait for the top end in DCT, if at all they introduce it. Or else I am not going to buy Seltos. It's surely going the Hyundai with many different features missing in different variants. Not fair, KIA. I was expecting some thing big from kia but for me, even if they are going to sell in big numbers, I lost my respect for KIA. At least they could have tried the top end in DCT. I am sure there would be many takers, if you take India as a whole. They have underestimated us.

[m2avg]

Originally Posted by lovesujay

...They have underestimated us.

They have not underestimated us. We have overestimated them. Kia is NOT
a premium brand. It's a value brand famous for low priced average quality cars. They might have hardly 2-3 "luxury" models and even those were launched with great anticipation by Kia.

Looking at how they are going about the Seltos launch, the variant distribution, the ads, the buggy pre-booking process... Kia's impression of India seems to be very underwhelming. I would be worried about how their after sales attitude would be.

[Alive2Drive]

I think people are still going to buy the seltos . As per autocar India , kia received 6000 bookings on day1

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...day-one-413482

[Vulken Auto]

Whats " KIA"? Korean International automobile or in USA they say KEEP IT Affordable!!

[momsonlydriver]

I think I might stop for Seltos. Should it be worth waiting for a future DCT gtx+?

[isldhn]

Originally Posted by Alive2Drive

I think people are still going to buy the seltos . As per autocar India , kia received 6000 bookings on day1

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...day-one-413482

Yup. Thats what I believe as well. All this while we were whining about manufacturers not offering the automatic options in diesel. Now once a manufacturer does the same, we nitpick. Cmon guys, we cannot accept a manufacturer to fulfil all our dreams, in terms of expectations from our would be new car, and then price it sensibly to sustain competition. The features like HUD, 360 degrees camera etc are add ons which we never discussed an year ago. Lets appreciate Kia and MG for bringing such features in a sub 20 lakh mini suv. Yes, if we talk about them not providing the six airbags, or ESP or hill hold in the top end model, that is debatable and I think there will be a variant jig pretty soon. But thats just it.

BTW, I have heard of approx 80 bookings from Ludhiana till day two. So it seems like it's another hector like wave which is going to sweep the Indian car scene ( Pun- unintended ;-) )

[NAVREVV]

Originally Posted by Vulken Auto

Whats " KIA"? Korean International automobile or in USA they say KEEP IT Affordable!!

According to Kia Motors, the name "Kia" derives from the Sino-Korean characters "ki" (起, "to come out") and "a" (亞, which stands for (East) Asia); it is roughly translated as "to come out of the east."

[Enigmatic]

I literally have only one question:

Why launch a premium brand (compared to Hyundai) when you are not going to provide the top-end variant with all premium features (compared to Hyundai)?

I understand that this is done to keep the cost in check, however it is a premium brand!

I honestly have never seen a more unnecessarily complicated feature distribution list.

Best,
Enigmatic

[NH08]

Kia Seltos - 6000 bookings on the first day itself.

MG Hector - Waiting period extending to months.

Toyota - may be launching Vellfire.

And still I read that auto sector is going down.

Or is it that the slowdown is for only existing models, not for new models?

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by gupta_chd

You got to be kidding mate. Creta SX is almost similarly specced and it is priced around 13.58 lacs. I will be happy even if they price it for 12 lacs ex-showroom but i doubt that will happen.

If it is indeed priced at 9.99 lacs, i think the waiting period may run into years.

Well they could get away with it in the Creta era. This is a new era. For 14.18 lakhs ex-showroom, Hector Diesel Super variant delivers a ton of features over and above Seltos HTK+ - a much bigger and more powerful Diesel engine, a massive touch screen, all four disc brakes, acres of room, many safety features like stability control, and the list goes on. Essentially a car from the class above Seltos in every way and a trim level two notches higher in most ways.

The only card Seltos has to play is that offers a diesel automatic. If Kia gets greedy and uses this card unwisely, they will start with a whimper in India and not a bang. The Harrier will arrive with an auto in 2-3 month time and again it will be car from the class above in similar price bracket.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by NH08

Kia Seltos - 6000 bookings on the first day itself.

MG Hector - Waiting period extending to months.

Toyota - may be launching Vellfire.

And still I read that auto sector is going down.

Or is it that the slowdown is for only existing models, not for new models?

Leaving the Toyota aside, both MG and Kia are new entrants into the market and have done some extravagant brand marketing activities. So one way to look at it is that these new models/brands are what could help cheer up the Indian Automotive Market and bring it out of the slow down. Not to forget that both MG and Kia have big plans for India and this is just the start.

The other way to look at it is that a couple of new models will not address the fundamental issues causing the slow down, not to forget these models are at the higher end of the mass market. Actual numbers will probably settle down to a couple of thousand a month.

These booking numbers and waiting periods, I will take with a pinch of salt. In the absence of any clear way to find out if it is true or not, just needs to be seen as another marketing strategy.

[momsonlydriver]

MG Hector has one of the best varient selection. It is really simply, clean and easy to understand. It also caters to every customer needs.

Personally I was hoping Kia to do the same to launch auto and manual in all trims. Well, they followed Hyundai's strategy.
I was waiting for Kia Seltos since the concept was showcased in a bright orange color and had high hopes. Yes, it did exceed my expectations but the varient list was a major let down for not making a true top end varient.

Why I am not chosing MG hector over Kia Seltos?

The answer is every simple, it is no more the same brand MG which they try to showcase. It is now a chinese car brand. The Hector is a chinese made car and this car will be sold by Chevrolet too.

We all know MG and Chevrolet are not standing well in the global market. I have a lot of reliability concerns regarding the Hector. That one major screen is the soul of the car and if that dies. You are helpless. I'm not commenting further as I would wait for a long term review of the Hector.

On the other hand, Kia is known to made very reliable cars. My relatives who live abroad do own products from Kia and they serve 7 years of warranty.

Kia is kinda blinded that "Indians love Diesel" the reality is Diesel cars are used by cab drivers to provide extra mileage and personal car buyer usually prefer buying powerful engines. Here in case of Seltos, the 1.4T engine is the strongest and the paper figures of Diesel seem weak. 140HP vs 115HP. Will I choose an automatic diesel or a manual petrol and to have the bell the whistles along?

Funny tho HTX+ does lack features from GTX+. What If buyers like me wait for 2020 Creta? It does look hideous and unappealing in the images. I infact feel venue looks much better than the next generation Creta and Hyundai is sure to mess the varients too.

Or Kia might realise in future and introduce a GTX+ dct

[NAVREVV]

Originally Posted by NH08

Kia Seltos - 6000 bookings on the first day itself.

MG Hector - Waiting period extending to months.

MG Motors has said that bookings for MG Hector have touched 20,000 and from 19th of this month onwards they will stop taking new bookings and new price will be applicable after this.

Wonder where is the slowdown? That means people would spend for the right offering.

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Well they could get away with it in the Creta era. This is a new era. For 14.18 lakhs ex-showroom, Hector Diesel Super variant delivers a ton of features over and above Seltos HTK+

You need to incorporate BS VI norms as well. Seltos is going to be BS VI compliant right from start as reported which is going to drive the cost further. As I see, it is going to be priced at per with Creta if not more for diesel. Otherwise I would be pleasantly surprised.