In The Cross Hairs

Kia Created Quite A Buzz At The 2018 Auto Expo. And, With The Seltos, Kia Is Hoping To Translate That Buzz Into Sales Success. We Drive It In Goa, Amidst A Raging Monsoon, To See If Kia Can Truly Make A Splash In The Indian Market.

- Ishan Raghava 

In the complicated world of automobile manufacturing, India holds a special place. It’s special because it’s known to be the burial ground for some of the biggest carmakers in the world – just ask General Motors. Marked by unique demands, diverse geography and challenging infrastructure, and a lack of clarity in government policy, the Indian market offers a high degree of complexity to say the least. As the now-infamous Mr Carlos Ghosn once said to me over lunch, before the launch of the Kwid, ‘India is definitely one of the toughest, if not the toughest, markets in the world to understand and succeed in.’

The challenge

Considering that two manufacturers account for around 70% of the passenger car market in India, it’s clear that Kia Motors has its work cut out for it. To be honest, though, Kia has followed quite a deliberate strategy right from the day they announced their decision to enter the Indian market – their vast display at the Auto Expo made that apparent.

Subsequent to that, Kia managed to keep the buzz around the brand alive – highlighting its massive investment in India (over $1.1 billion at last count) to build a 3,00,000-unit plant in Anantapur, as well as to build anticipation and excitement for its first product, the Seltos SUV.

Enter the Seltos

The Seltos made its first appearance at the 2018 Auto Expo in the form of the SP2 concept, and it’s good to see that, by and large, Kia has stuck to the design of the concept car. As a result, what we get is a very attractive SUV that features many mature design touches to make it stand out in a crowded market.