Kia Seltos facelift debuts in India; Bookings open on July 14

Kia has unveiled the much-awaited Seltos facelift in India on Tuesday. The facelifted Kia Seltos will be available for bookings from July 14. The Seltos facelift version is powered by a turbo-petrol engine and has a panoramic sunroof.

Kia has also introduced a new Pewter Olive colour for the updated Seltos. It is also available with eight other solid colours and two dual-tone colours.

The Seltos was launched in India in August 2019 and the midlife refresh has arrived after almost four years, though the SUV received a facelift globally in 2022. Kia said that it has sold more than five lakh Seltos units since launch.

Kia Seltos facelift exterior design

The Seltos facelift features a larger redesigned bumper and revamped headlights with new LED daytime running lamps that extend into the grille. Kia has made body-coloured inserts in the housing for the fog lamps, which has a four-block design.

The Seltos facelift gets new inverted L-shaped tail-lights, which are connected from one end to another with an an LED light bar. The Kia branding badge sits in the middle of the light bar. The redesigned tailgate gets fewer chrome bits than the outgoing model.

The Seltos facelift will run on 18-inch, dual-tone alloy wheels. The Seltos also gets sequential turn indicators and the reverse light has moved from the tail-light housing to the redesigned bumper.

he turbo-petrol trims get dual exhausts tips, and the GT Line and X Line get a slightly different body kit than the Tech Line trims.

Kia Seltos facelift interior 

The Seltos facelift comes with a dual-screen set-up including two 10.25-inch displays for the digital instrument cluster and the touchscreen infotainment system respectively. The car now gets thinner AC vents and a redesigned panel for HVAC and media. The X Line trim gets a new sage green colour for the interior, while the GT Line variants get a new black and white interior theme.

The feature list of the New Seltos includes a panoramic sunroof, a 360-degree camera, dual-zone climate control, an 8-inch heads-up display, electronic parking brake, rain-sensing wipers and Bose-tuned 8-speaker system with sound mood lamps. The safety features include 17 ADAS functions such as forward collision warning assist, blind spot collision warning and lane keep assist. It also gets six airbags as standard, a tyre pressure monitoring system, ESC and Hill Assist Control.

Kia Seltos facelift powertrains

The facelifted Seltos is offered with a 1.5-litre petrol engine making 115hp, 144Nm, which is paired with a 6-speed manual or a CVT. It also comes in a 1.5-litre turbo-diesel engine producing a 116hp, 250Nm, couple with a 6-speed iMT and a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

Kia has reintroduced a turbo-petrol engine with the Seltos facelift, where the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine. The Turbo engine was discontinued in March 2023 as it did not meet BS6 Phase 2 emissions norms. The new 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine makes 160hp and 253Nm of torque, which is 20hp and 11Nm more than the previous turbo-petrol engine. The new engine is mated to a 6-speed iMT or a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

Kia Seltos facelift rivals

The Seltos facelift takes on the likes of Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, MG Astor, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq and the upcoming Honda Elevate and Citroen C3 Aircross. Kia has not revealed the prices of the model yet.