Trazor To Carnival – 6 New Kia Cars Coming To India Within 3 Years
Kia plans to launch six models in the Indian market in the next 3 years, which means one new model in every six months
Korean automaker, Kia will officially enter into India in the first half of 2019. The company will start its India innings with an all-new 5-seater premium SUV based on the SP Concept, which is likely to be called Kia Trazor. According to PTI, Kia Motors is very aggressive with its product strategy for the Indian market. The company is planning to launch 6 new cars by mid-2022.
Speaking to PTI, Kia Motors India CEO and MD, Kookhyun Shim, said, “Yes, we are considering six models in three years, which is one model every six months.”
What’s interesting is that Kia has no plans of launching a sub-4 meter hatchback in India. Previous media reports claim that Kia is considering the Rio and Picanto hatchbacks for Indian market. While the Rio will be Hyundai i20 rival, the Picanto will be the Maruti Swift and Hyundai Grand i10 rival. The new report claims that Kia focus for India would be on premium models initially.
Kia SP Images
Speaking on compact cars, Shim said, “We want to position ourselves as a premium brand. At the moment there is no plan for compact cars in India. However, whenever we think we need some volume support we can put compact car in our line up.”
Besides Kia SP concept based SUV, Kia is working on a sub-4 meter SUV for the Indian market. Likely to be launched in early 2020, the small SUV will rival the likes of Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Maruti Vitara Brezza. It will be based on the Hyundai Santro’s platform, which will also underpin the upcoming Hyundai STYX compact SUV. The small SUV could debut at the 2020 Delhi Auto Expo.
The company is also considering the global Kia Carnival MPV for the Indian market. The premium MPV will be more luxurious than the Toyota Innova Crysta. Some reports claim that the company is also planning to introduce the Kia Ceed C-segment hatchback in India.
