Launched on 22nd August 2019, Kia Seltos bookings have crossed the 40,000 units mark by 25th September. This is a record of sorts, for any new car to have touched the 40,000 bookings mark in such a short time post launch. For 50,000 bookings, record is held by Hyundai Venue – which took 60 days.
In an interview, Manohar Bhatt, Sales and Marketing Head at Kia India, Seltos bookings are growing every minute. Their main focus now is to increase production and reduce waiting period for their customers. Average Seltos waiting period is at about 2 months.
Interestingly, no other newly-launched vehicles in India has touched the 40,000 bookings mark in such a short time post-launch. However, the latest record for 50,000 bookings is held by Hyundai Venue, which was achieved in 60 days. As of now, the average waiting period for the Kia Seltos SUV is around 2 months. However, to meet the demand, the automaker has ramped up production at the Anantapur facility. The company has already confirmed that it will start the second shift at the plant soon.
Talking about the production capacity of the carmaker though Kia India plant in Andhra Pradesh has a capacity to produce 3 lakh cars / 25k cars a month. In August itself, the car 6,200 units of Seltos were produced. Mr. Bhatt reveals that this month the production will be a lot more. We expect it to be in the region of 10,000 units.
The Seltos comes with three engines, all of which are BS-VI compliant. The 1.5-liter petrol engine churns out 115 hp power and 144 Nm torque while the 1.5-liter diesel engine will be capable of 115 hp power and 250 Nm torque. Top of the line 1.4 liter turbo petrol delivers 140 PS
Kia Seltos and Hyundai Venue have also been nominated for the 2020 World Car of The Year Award. These two cars are going to compete with Ford Kuga, Range Rover Evoque, Mazda 3, and VW T-Cross which is all set to make its way to India along with the new-gen Mercedes-Benz CLA.
