Kia Motors Beats Mahindra, Tata; Becomes India’s 3rd Largest Carmaker
In August 2019, Kia Motors marked its entry into the Indian market with the Seltos compact SUV. The carmaker’s maiden offering has done miracles in terms of sales and helped the company become 5th largest carmaker of the country in October last year. Kia has sold 75,000 units of the Seltos within 7 months of its arrival.
At the 2020 Auto Expo last month, the Korean carmaker brought its second product – Kia Carnival. The luxury MPV gathered over 1400 bookings on the very first day when its bookings were opened. Riding high on the success of the Seltos and Carnival, Kia Motors has become the third largest carmaker of India in February, 2020.
Interestingly, Kia has beaten Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra to claim the third spot. While the Korean carmaker sold a total of 15,644 units (including Seltos and Carnival), Tata and Mahindra retailed 12,430 units and 10,756 units respectively. As usual, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai retained the top 2 slots. Read – Kia Seltos X-Line Explained In A Video
The reason for drop in sales of almost all carmakers (except of-course Kia) is due to coronavirus outbreak that has hampered the supply of components from China. We won’t be shocked to see similar downfall for even Kia in coming months for the same reason.
Talking about Kia Motors future plan, the company will foray into subcompact SUV space with the Kia Sonet. Previewed at this year’s Auto Expo, the Sonet will rival Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Mahindra XUV300, Tata Nexon and Ford EcoSport. Engine setup of the compact SUV will include a 83PS, 1.2L Kappa petrol, a 25PS, 1.0L turbo petrol and a 1.5L diesel motor.
After the Sonet, the Korean carmaker will bring in a compact MPV to challenge Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Mahindra Marazzo. It’s likely to be based on the Seltos’ platform and go on sale by the end of 2021.
Kia Seltos X-Line First Look Video
