Kia’s inning in India has been nothing short of exemplary. In fact, the carmaker has received a start here which most new carmakers yearn for. The South Korean carmaker has managed to chart this journey on the back of three successful products — Seltos, Carnival, and Sonet. And while Carnival isn’t a cash cow for Kia because of its premium pricing, the other two SUVs are raking in impressive sales. The next obvious step for the brand is to expand to other segments. And while the company intends to do that, it plans to do it in a very strategic manner. The carmaker revealed that it has no intentions of entering the hatchback or sub-compact sedan segment in the country. Instead, it will continue to focus on the SUV and MPV segment in the country. More specifically, Kia is currently mulling a seven-seater SUV for the Indian market considering a surge in demand for such vehicles.
Now, if you think Kia’s first seven-seater SUV for the Indian market will be Sonet Seven (Sonet’s seven-seater version) that was revealed in Indonesia earlier this month, then you are wrong. The company clearly said that it is not bringing the seven-seater Sonet to our shores. Instead, the brand is contemplating a bigger seven-seater SUV, probably based on Seltos’ platform. This upcoming Kia SUV will obviously be a direct rival to Hyundai Alcazar and will even battle the recently launched Tata Safari. Developing a three-row SUV to rival Alcazar makes sense for the brand as it will keep it on par with the sibling, Hyundai.
Besides a new seven-seater SUV, Kia is also reportedly working on a new MPV for the Indian market. This people-mover will have vehicles like Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Mahindra Marazzo in its crosshairs. The upcoming Kia MPV is likely to share its platform with the Seltos and is likely to match Marazzo in dimensions. This means that it will be bigger than the Ertiga, which is currently the champion in the MPV segment in the country.
