2023 Kia Seltos facelift sports updates throughout the outside, overall silhouette remains the same
Kia is gearing up to launch the 2023 Seltos facelift soon in India and, ahead of its launch, the SUV has been revealed in full in the international markets. Th car sports a host of updates on the outside with minor touches on the inside too.
Launched in August 2019, the Kia Seltos is now nearly 3 years old. The SUV, known for its unique ‘Tiger Nose’ grille, brought to the C+ and D segments, some of the never-seen-before features and powertrain options including the turbo petrol and DCT combo.
Some of the features included automatic LED headlamps, air purifier, Hyundai’s BlueLink system with more than 37 features, Bose sound system, 360 degree parking camera, and a lot more.
In fact, it was Kia Seltos and MG Hector, which forced manufacturers to bring in more features to their D-segment models.
While the Kia topped the sales charts for months, over time, competition caught up especially its parent firm Hyundai which launched the second generation Creta, a year later. Mahindra’s XUV700, which was launched last year, is also on the brink of overtaking Seltos in sales.
As of today, the SUV averages just around 5000 units, much lower than what it managed in its hey days.
Coming to the 2023 model, it features a redesigned front with updates to the LED headlights, grille, and DRLs. The LED DRLs, for example, intrude into the grille. Though the grille, somewhat, looks the same as before, it gets more sharper edges and brushed silver surrounds.
The silver skid plate gets minor detailing. The fog lamps have been retained and even the bonnet creases are same as before.
As per sources, the SUV will get new headlights and tail lights with different inside elements while the bumpers and rear tail gate will be reworked too. On the sides, the alloy wheels have been redesigned and they get s flower like design.
At the rear, the SUV has got connected LED tail lamps as per the trend. The bumper features recesses at both ends which sport reversing lights and reflectors. The chrome line on the bumper has been given the miss. Even the chrome strip on the tail gate is not to be seen.
The biggest change, however, will be on the inside as various reports say Seltos, which brought revolutionary features earlier, will now bring the much-talked-about ADAS features this time. Other than this, not many differences could be seen on the inside.
As Hyundai Group has achieved some great breakthroughs with its Ioniq 5 Robotaxi, the company might introduce some of these technologies in its mass market cars like the Seltos and Creta. In fact, the Brazilian Creta N Line has now received ADAS features.
When launched, the upcoming Seltos will compete against the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Mahindra Scorpio N, Tata Harrier, MG Astor, Skoda Kushaq, MG Hector, Maruti Suzuki and Toyota hybrid SUVs, Volkswagen Taigun, and the likes.
