The Seltos isn’t just another mid-size SUV player. It’s the model that back in 2019, ushered in a pretty much unknown Kia brand into India, established the company as a major player and took on the segment champ the Creta, often emerging victorious in the monthly sweepstakes. Its six years since and time now for a new generation so can the new car build on its predecessors’ achievements and make the cut in what is still a crowded and hotly contested space?
2026 Kia Seltos design and engineering – 7/10
New Seltos is underpinned by a new platform has grown in size and has a bold new look.
The new second generation Seltos moves from the predecessors K2 to Kia’s new K3 platform which brings in new tech and has allowed the Seltos to grown quite substantially, as is often the case with new platforms though, powertrains carry forward from the previous car.
Length is now 95mm over the previous car and at 4460mm it’s the longest in its class. Wheelbase is up 80mm – 2690mm – over the first-gen Seltos and is now second to only the Tata Sierra.
But beyond size what will strike you immediately is the altogether new style. It’s a very bold character and brings in new Kia design traits, and while its not as quirky as its sibling the Syros, the new design will not find universal appeal. It does look better than it photographs with its size helping it carry off some of the stronger design elements like the vertical DRLs at the edges that wrap right over to the bonnet and fender too. The headlights are set in squares units that sit within the large gloss black grille which still carries the typical Kia tiger-nose pinch at the top and bottom, but with the loud styling elements, is somewhat lost here.
At the side there’s chunky black gloss cladding around the wheels and on the doors, they carry body-coloured inserts. Door handles are flush units and alloy wheels are 18 inchers on GT line cars with a very geometric style and neon painted front brake calipers, it looks a bit random on some of body colours. The glass house is pinched towards the rear and flows into the tailgate giving it a floating roof look. Roof rails sit at the top, though these are decorative and cannot take a load.
Compared to the front, the rear is a lot less fussy with large vertical LED taillights set at the outer edges and connected via a light strip at the top. Below the light strip the tailgate curves forward at the edges and gives it a nice wraparound look. At the top the spoiler neatly hides the rear wiper and contains a neat integrated stop light.
2026 Kia Seltos features and safety – 8/10
Well loaded in typical Kia fashion, though loses the previous cars air-purifier.
The inside too is very different in the second generation Seltos but you’ll also find familiar Kia bits, no bad thing, because its all top-notch. Fit and finish too is very good, panel gaps are minimal and though I would have liked more soft touch materials around you can’t call the cabin plasticky, thanks to high quality materials and good texturing on the surfaces.
Shared with the Syros is Kia’s new large single pane panoramic glass pane that houses a 12.3-inch central touchscreen, a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and a 5.0-inch HVAC touchscreen nestled between the two, which is obscured by the steering wheel. Thankfully though, like in the Syros, Kia has retained plenty of physical buttons in the Seltos so often used functions like temperature and fan speed are via large and use to use toggle switches. There are also buttons for media controls that are easy to see including a neat scroll wheel for volume control in the center. The touchscreen is crisp and slick to use and the feed from the 360-degree camera is also sharp and clear. The IP screen too has a good definition and has both a digital display as well as traditional dials.
The tilt and telescoping steering wheel is a new chunky looker with easy-to-use buttons and scroll wheels, including two for drive and traction modes set neatly at the bottom which look cool and are easy to access on the go. Other features around are Bose sound which does not sound as sharp as some of the newer premium systems, a panoramic sunfroof, wireless phone charging, ambient lighting, front cooled seats and a powered driver’s seat with memory for the position and the ORVM’s too. It also has an entry and exit function and what’s nice is that you can set the distance that it will automatically slide back. Odd misses though are an air purifier – something that was present on the previous car, and rear cooled seats that Kia provides on the smaller Syros.
On the safety front, there’s all the usual kit with 6-airbags and electronic stability control (ESC) and also downhill brake control and a full ADAS suite. In our time with it, the lane departure correction felt natural but with the lane centering on, the inputs make the car feel like its meandering about with the constant corrections, more also due to the fact the lanes we encountered weren’t very uniformly wide or straight. As for a crash rating the new Seltos has not yet been tested under either the GNCAP or BNCAP protocol.
2026 Kia Seltos interior space and comfort – 7/10
Interiors are spacious, but rear seat comfort is average.
Front seat comfort is good and for my narrow frame felt just fine, larger folks will find the seats narrow. The front seats head rests aren’t just cool looking with their sculpted shape but they have a see-through mesh like support at the sides with a padded section only in the center. As far as being head-restraints, they will prevent whiplash injuries but passengers using this to take a nap may miss the side padding.
At the rear, the lengthened wheelbase liberates more legroom which even 6 footers will find ample while headroom would be just about ok for them. Cabin width is also good and three average sized adults can sit with their shoulders touching but not overlapping. As for the seats themselves, you can adjust the seat back angle and the seat base padding is comfortable but taller folks will find the seat base itself short. Lower back lumbar support also feels a bit excessive. There’s no boss mode function though that allows rear seat passengers to slide the front seat forward. Helping keep things cool are rear AC vents and rear sun blinds that are shaped nicely with along window leaving no large gaps.
Storage space around the car is good, though the glovebox is small. Boot space stands at a generous 447 liters and while the loading height is high, the flat floor makes it easier to load into. Below the boot floor sits a full-size spare.
2026 Kia Seltos performance and refinement – 8/10
Petrol’s performance and refinement is good; diesel is quiet enough but needs more punch.
Powering the Seltos are the three engines from the previous car – the 115hp, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated (NA) petrol; the 160hp, 1.5-litre turbo direct injection (TGDi) – petrol and the 115hp, 1.5-litre diesel. As before gearbox options remain the same too, the NA petrol has 6 speed manual or CVT auto, the TGDi comes with a 6-speed clutch-less manual or a 7-speed dual clutch auto, while the diesel is paired to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed torque convertor gearbox. We sampled the automatics of both the TGDi petrol and the diesel unit.
Coming to the diesel first. We’ve always liked the diesel and its character remains the same here. While there is the typical diesel drone, its very well muted and NVH levels on the whole are what you would call good. Power delivery is linear and with max torque of 250Nm coming in at 1500rpm it pulls cleanly making it a comfy cruiser, however in the new car the engine does feels lacking in punch and urgency even in Sport mode. The gearbox too while smooth is a slow shifter, even via the paddles.
The TGDi petrol too feels just as before, you can hear the unit at work but the sound character is not course and refinement is good. Power delivery too is strong with a push coming in at 2000rpm and it builds up in a strong linear fashion all the way to the red line which is at around 6200rpm in manual mode and what’s nice is that it lets you rev till the red line. Typical of a dual clutch gearbox, it’s quick to shift but also typically it does fumble a bit at low-speed changes in pace.
2026 Kia Seltos fuel efficiency – 8/10
Real world efficiency will be at par with others in the segment.
Kia is yet to release mileage figures but even with the apparent increase in weight you can expect figures similar to before. So, the TGDi auto should see high single digit figures in the city with it rising to about 13 to 14 kpl on the highways. The diesel on the other hand should return about 16 to 17kpl on the highway and low double-digit figures in the city too.
2026 Kia Seltos ride comfort and handling – 8/10
Ride is now comfier than before and this does not come at the expense of body roll.
The suspension consists of McPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam axle with coil springs at the rear, so the same as before but the ride character has changed. The previous Seltos had a firm overall feel and the ride felt a bit stiff, however with the new generation car Kia has tuned the suspension with a bias towards comfort. Bumps and ruts are easily soaked up and you don’t feel a harsh edge to it. What is nice is that this hasn’t come at the expense of body control which remains tidy even at slightly spirited speeds. High speed stability is also very good and the car tracks straight and level even on less than perfect surfaces.
The steering weights up with through the drive modes, though not really significantly, overall steering effort moves from medium to firm. The feel isn’t very natural though and in Sport mode the firmness feels artificial like coming in from a resistance band. Brakes are progressive and stopping power from the all-round discs feel just fine for everyday driving including some quick stops.
2026 Kia Seltos value and verdict – 8/10
Isn’t a re-invention but it feels new and does enough to feel different from its predecessor.
Give its new platform underpinnings, you could have expected more from the new Seltos. The drive feels familiar and while that’s not a bad thing entirely, the diesel here does feel like its lacking in punch. Equipment wise too you could expect more especially given that it does miss features its predecessor and smaller sibling offer. So, you couldn’t call re-invention of the Seltos. But it has changed significantly enough.
There’s the completely new look that’s bold and certainly eye catching, and the car has grown in size offering more space inside. The few missing features not-withstanding, the new Seltos has all that you’d expect from it and with the new platform there’s the ability for over the air updates to keep certain functions modern. Importantly there’s also an improvement in the ride quality that leans towards comfort and of course the wide powertrain choice remains. So, there’s enough here to garner significant interest.
Pricing is yet to be announced and Kia would be wise to not get ambitious but rather keep prices within the ballpark of the previous car. Ex showroom starting prices of just under Rs 11 lakh for the base naturally aspirated petrol, Rs 13 lakh for the base diesel and the TGDI high end variant topping out at Rs 20 lakh would keep things competitive and the Seltos flag flying high.
