All-new Kia Seltos debuts at 2019 LA Auto Show

KUALA LUMPUR: Kia Motors America has finally launched the all-new Seltos at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show in California. The B-segment SUV has been added between Soul and Sportage in the line-up. The brand has scheduled to start the delivery process next year in the first quarter.

2020 Kia Seltos will be available in the US with its five variants, such as entry-level LX, EX, S 2.0L, S 1.6T and SX. The new kia Seltos price will start from US$ 22,000, which is equivalent to RM 92K in Malaysian currency. However, as for now, prices for all the variants are not declared in detail.

Exterior wise, the all-new Seltos gets “Crown Jewel” LED headlights, silver skid plates along with black wheel arch cladding, 18-inch wheels and more. These equipment are different for different Seltos variants. The equipment list also includes front and rear bumper in a sporty design and centre wheel caps in red colour.

Inside the car, 2020 Seltos has been given either a 7-inch or 3.5-inch digital multi info display. Along with this, the car also features an eight-speaker Bose premium sound system. Moreover, leather-wrapped steering wheel, shift knob, rear air vents, 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system are also present inside.

Moving to the powertrain options, the entry-level model is powered by a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. It can churn out a maximum power of 146 hp and a peak torque of 179 Nm. The engine is paired to Kia’s IVT (Intelligent Variable Transmission), which is commonly known as CVT.

The top-ranking model, SX and the S 1.6T variants are powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which can make out 175 hp of maximum power and 264 Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a dual clutch seven-speed transmission. Furthermore, there are three drive modes such as Normal, Eco and Sport.

All the variants will come with MacPherson struts at the front, but at the rear, the suspension will vary with respect to the offerings. The FWD variants will come with a torsion beam for the rear, while AWD variants get a multi-link setup.

Kia Seltos safety features includes “Kia Drive Wise” advanced driver assist system, which can be customised. The system comes with a large number of features including forward collision-avoidance assist with pedestrian detection, blind spot collision warning, highway driving assist and more.

Also read: Kia releases official images of all-new Optima or K5