Story & Photos by Patrick P. Tulfo
AFTER the successful world premiere held last July in South Korea, wherein they flew several members of the motoring beat to take first dibs of their upcoming entry in the subcompact crossover segment, Kia has formally launched the Seltos in the country recently at the Blue Leaf McKinley in BGC.
In his opening remarks, Kia Philippines President Manny Aligada quipped, “On January 30, we launched the partnership between Ayala and Kia motors, and opened the first of the three boxes, which held the Soluto. Now it’s the biggest-selling model in our lineup. We followed suit with the debut of the Stinger sports sedan at summer’s Manila International Auto Show [MIAS]. Now the brand closes the year strong with the Seltos.”
Aligada proudly added, “We said we would bring back the glory of the brand known worldwide. And we committed to two things. First, we said we would enhance the current lineup, which we did. The second is that we would bring in three new models.” The Seltos is the culmination of that promise made at the start of the year.
Kia Motors Asia-Pacific President Ted Lee on the other hand reported that, “In July, when Kia had the world premiere of the Seltos, we received huge attention from the media, customers and even competitors globally. In the Korean market, Seltos has been a top-selling model in the B-SUV segment, with sales volume much higher than the next model in the segment. In India, where Kia was not present until last July, the Seltos has received, despite the market’s slowdown, more than expected inquiries and customer’s bookings.”
He added, “Today, I am thrilled to be at the beginning of another success story of the Seltos here in the Philippines, which is the first country to launch this beautiful model in the Asean market.”
The Kia Seltos was named after Celtos, the son of legendary Greek God Hercules, who was known for his brave and assertive spirit.
It is said to be bigger than its competitors in the segment with a measurement 4,370 x 1,800 x 1,615 millimeters and a wheelbase of 2,630 mm.
Its styling is characterized by a long hood with strong and sharp lines that lends it an air of sportiness. This is accentuated with LED headlights with unique lighting elements, that also extends to the company’s trademark tiger nose grille with a diamond pattern and finished with chrome garnish and skid plate.
The side profile, on the other hand, features a voluminous black wheel arch cladding, chrome beltline moldings and C-Pillar Garnish. The rear has LED taillights with similar lighting elements found in the front end, a sophisticated 3D rear bumper design, tailgate garnish and a dual-chrome muffler garnish to complete its sporty styling.
There is only one engine available for the models sold here and that is 2.0-liter in-line-four DOHC D-CVVT Atkinson Cycle gasoline engine, which is mated to an all-new Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT) that according to Kia produces, “power, response, smoothness and fuel economy.” It is rated at 149 hp and 179 N-m of torque.
A huge P50,000 discount was offered to buyers to all three variants, LX (P1.048 million), EX (P1.148 million), and the top variant SX (P1.448 million) to those who ordered before November 30.
The Seltos is sourced directly from South Korea and offers an extensive five-year or 160,000 kilometers warranty and is now available in all Kia dealerships nationwide.
Image credits: Patrick P. Tulfo