Own Your Journey: The New Kia Seltos

Kia South Africa this week introduces the new Seltos to the South African market with an updated exterior design, a significantly upgraded interior, and a pair of upgraded powertrains. The introduction also sees the Seltos range being revised and repositioned in the competitive crossover segment of the market, where its established quality and reliability is enhanced by an even greater value proposition.

Originally launched in South Africa in November 2019, Seltos was the first product to roll off the production line at Kia’s state-of-the-art new production facility in Anantapur, India. The range of petrol-powered models were augmented with a number of turbodiesel options in the second half of 2020. This is the model’s first major enhancement since launch.

“At the time of launch, the Kia Seltos offered customers a strikingly styled, high quality alternative to Kia’s evergreen Sportage range,” comments Gary Scott, CEO, Kia South Africa. “Up until that point, Kia’s only offering in that segment was the Kia Soul which was, arguably, well ahead of its time. The model immediately resonated with South Africans and has since become a consistent performer for Kia. We are confident that the vast enhancements on the range will build on that success.”

New design. Same visual impact.

Updated exterior design aligns Seltos with ‘Opposites United’ design language

One of the most noticeable changes to the new Kia Seltos are to its exterior design, representing a striking evolution of the original design that immediately found favour with buyers for its sporty blend of sophistication and SUV practicality. At 4,365mm long, 1,800 mm wide and 1,620 mm high, the Seltos not only looks much bigger than its closest competitors thanks to its long hood, the strong character line on the front bumper, and the sharp lines pressed into the bodywork but is easily one of the largest and most practical compact SUVs available in South Africa.

At the front, the Seltos benefits from a number of aesthetic upgrades. Following Kia’s award-winning ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, which harnesses the creative tension generated by the divergent values of nature and modernity to deliver a harmonious whole, the Seltos headlights have been redesigned to align more closely with Kia’s new ‘Star Map’ lighting signature. Along with a larger new iteration of Kia’s trademark ‘tiger nose’ grille and repositioned LED Daytime Running Lights, Seltos also receives a redesigned front bumper with a new layout for the foglamps, the whole creating a vertically aligned visage that thoroughly updates the muscular front-end of the car.

Changes to the side of the vehicle is limited to updated mouldings at the bottom of the doorline, with the biggest exterior update reserved for the rear. Here the Seltos receives a completely redesigned tailgate that incorporate redesigned taillights connected horizontally below the rear window. The new design replaces the former chrome-look garnish that connected the Seltos taillights and allows for Kia’s new ‘Star Map’ lighting signature to be applied at the rear as well.

The new Seltos range also benefits from a set of redesigned alloy wheels, with the range now offering two 16-inch options as well as a new 18-inch design that replaces the outgoing 17-inch wheel reserved for the range-topping GT-Line model.

As a whole, the significant exterior update brings the Kia Seltos into greater aesthetic alignment with Kia’s growing range of award-winning crossovers and SUVs. As part of its refresh, a variety of colours are also available, with a striking new colour option – Pewter Olive – joining perennial favourites like Glacier White Pearl, Sparkling Silver metallic, Aurora Black Pearl, Gravity Grey metallic, Imperial Blue metallic and Intense Red.

Customers can also opt for the two available two-tone options, which combines either Glacier White Pearl or Intense Red with a black roof.

Future-ready interior.

Redesigned interior ups the ante on all fronts

The Kia Seltos has been aimed at customers who appreciate the fun side of life while retaining a need for quality, intuitive features. The interior, valued for its broad, sweeping shapes and technical design details, already delivered excellent ergonomics and a commanding driver seating position, but is taken up a notch with the introduction of the new Kia Seltos. Like its larger Sportage sibling, the new Kia Seltos interior plays with boldness in character, softness in qualities and innovation in technology and creates a driver-oriented space that is truly state-of-the-art.

The most notable change to the Seltos interior is in the front of the cockpit, where a redesigned centre fascia and a beautifully sculpted, integrated curved display with a slim touchscreen pad and detailed air vents takes pride of place. The high-tech 10.25-inch touchscreen (model-specific) acts as the nerve centre for driver and passenger connectivity, functionality and usability needs, designed for highly intuitive and soft-to-touch ease-of-use and equipped with the latest-generation full thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display for incredibly precise and clear graphics. Seltos retains a number of physical buttons for a number of functions.

“Kia’s ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy has received widespread recognition under the direction of Kia’s Global Head of Design, Karim Habib, and applied to the new Seltos, brings this very important model’s design into alignment with the bigger Kia range of models,” comments Stephen Crosse, Sales & Marketing Director, Kia South Africa. “It’s the upgrades to the Seltos interior design that truly stands out, bringing the look, feel and user interface right into the here and now. We’re confident that this upgrade will resonate with modern, discerning buyers.”

Power and efficiency for all.

New engines and transmission options across the range.

The new Kia Seltos range retains the powerful and exceptionally frugal 1.5-litre CRDi engine and introduces two new petrol-powered powertrain options to the range, along with a new transmission option.

The new Seltos CRDI is powered by Kia’s much-lauded 1,493cc UII common-rail direct injection engine, featuring a variable geometry turbocharger. The engine delivers 85 kW of power at 4,000 r/min, and 250 Nm of torque between 1,500 and 2,750 r/min. Acceleration to 100 km/h is completed in 12 seconds, with a maximum speed of 175 km/h. The engine is only available with a 6-speed automatic transmission. CO₂ emissions in the combined cycle are 145 g/km.

In a real-world fuel economy test between Johannesburg and Cape Town conducted in 2020, the Seltos CRDi covered a smidgeon more than 1,100 km on a single tank of diesel, averaging a brilliant 4,37-litres/100km in the process. More impressively, the result was achieved by driving the vehicle like real customers would: sticking to the speed limit, overtaking when necessary, and with the aircon at full blast in the heat of the Karoo.

“South Africans have for a long time been enamoured with the performance and efficiency benefits that come with a turbodiesel engine,” adds Crosse. “While there is a global move away from diesel powertrains in favour of hybrid technology, we believe that there is a still a very important place for diesels in the crossover space. The 1.5-litre engine in Seltos is a proven performer, and a unique offering in a segment where diesels are the exception.”

The 1.6-litre naturally aspirated engine that has done duty in the Seltos since launch in 2019 is replaced with a second-generation version of Kia’s Gamma 1.5-litre normally aspirated engine. The 1,497cc engine develops 84 kW of power at 6,300 r/min and 144 Nm of torque at 4,500 r/min. Acceleration to 100 km/h is completed in 12,3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 170 km/h. The new engine is available paired with a 6-speed manual transmission as well as a new continuously variable transmission (CVT) to derive maximum fuel efficiency and lower emissions. CO₂ emissions in the combined cycle are 149 g/km on models equipped with a manual transmission, and 154 g/km in CVT variants.

Customers who prefer a sportier drive will be delighted with the 1.4-litre turbocharged GDi engine in the GT-Line model being upgraded to a new Kappa 1.5-litre T-GDi unit. The 1,482cc turbocharged engine develops 118 kW of power at 6,000 r/min and 253 Nm of torque between 1,500- and 3,500 r/min. Acceleration to 100 km/h is completed in 8,9 seconds, with a maximum speed of 195 km/h. The new engine is only available paired with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT) to derive maximum performance, fuel efficiency and lower emissions. CO₂ emissions in the combined cycle are 141 g/km.