Kia Seltos first drive review: Tata Sierra and Hyundai Creta have a new rival

As the year winds down, most people are turning their attention to the festive season – wrapping gifts, finalising holiday plans, and decorating the Christmas tree. For the automotive media, however, there is one final, crucial assignment to tick off the list. The family SUV segment is currently white-hot, seeing a flurry of recent launches with even more promised in the coming weeks. Yet, it is the new Kia Seltos that had me the most excited. When it debuted in 2019, it was the only contender truly capable of unsettling the Hyundai Creta’s dominance, selling over 5.8 lakh units over its lifecycle. Expectations for this second generation are equally high; so much has changed, in fact, that were it not for the badge on the tailgate, you’d be hard-pressed to recognise it as a Seltos at all.

2026 Kia Seltos exterior design

Gone is the stylish and curvy design language and in come the bold and muscular elements to make the car stand out on the road. The DRLs are pushed to the corners of the fascia with the grille covering the rest of the face. This along with the 30mm increase in width makes the car look fairly larger than the first gen. The new Global K3 platform also aids in the increase of its length by 95mm to just about 4.5 metres – making it the longest car in the segment. The wheelbase too has increased by 80mm to 2,690mm, dividends of which will be earned on the inside. The design of the 18-inch wheels is borrowed from Kia’s larger SUVs in their global range to make it look bolder and the yellow callipers peep out occasionally to remind us of the sporty character that Seltos had been associated with.

2026 Kia Seltos ride and handling

Its traditionally stiffer setup has earned the Seltos a sportier character than its cousin the Hyundai Creta. For this gen though, Kia has very specifically worked to make that very setup softer and plusher to give the Seltos a ride quality that exhibits more luxury and comfort. With the new K3 platform, Kia’s engineers were able to make significant changes to the suspension’s tuning – increased damping and span in the front and giving a Zero Tilt type Coupled Torsion Beam Axle in the rear. This has resulted in a significant improvement in the ride quality and comfort in the cabin. Going over bumps, speed breakers and potholes no longer impart a sudden shudder in the cabin. This is now replaced by a gentle reassuring (almost German) thud and a very pleasant traverse over the menacing pothole. Though the car has a tendency to lose its composure and impart more lateral movement when the potholes become continuous or if you go through the annoying rumble strips. In all, the ride quality, while improved vastly, does not hold water to the segment benchmark, which is the Tata Sierra.

Another aspect that has been vastly improved is the steering. Those bad roads no longer cause the steering to shake suddenly on occasion, and it now stays composed and feels in control all the time. The earlier DC motor has been replaced with the BLAC (Brushless Alternating Current) which results in a higher output from the steering motor, makes it more efficient with the driver’s inputs and makes its operation even more silent. Also, the software for the steering motor can be updated OTA for further enhancements in the future. More on the OTA update feature in a bit. Staying with the in-cabin experience, the NVH levels have drastically improved as well. Once the door is shut, the inside becomes devoid of the noise of the ruckus outdoors and there are no vibrations at any point of the rev range. The only sound that filters through is that of the engine when revved hard.

2026 Kia Seltos engine and performance

We were driving the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine mated with a 7-speed DCT gearbox. This pairing makes 158bhp and 253Nm and on our VBOX the 0-100kmph came up in 10.1 seconds. It could have been much faster if the gearbox wasn’t tuned to protect itself at launch, which is where it loses most of its time. The overall characteristics of the engine are the same as in the previous gen with a good build-up of sound and speed and fairly quick shifts. That is because amidst the sea of changes this gen has gone through, the powertrain line up remains the same. Apart from this turbo-petrol, there is also the 1.5 NA petrol (113bhp and 144Nm) and the 1.5 turbo-diesel (113bhp and 250Nm), all of which come with manual and automatic gearbox options. There are strong noises of a new hybrid powertrain making it to the line-up soon as well. You can play around with drive and traction modes, buttons of which are now placed on the steering, and their function and change in response remains the same as before.

2026 Kia Seltos features and interior

Coming back to the current changes, the interior design too has changed as much as the exterior. It now follows Kia’s new design language which we first saw in the Syros. The dash is dominated by the twin 12.3-inch screens with a 4-inch ACC touch control screen in between the infotainment and the cluster screens. More importantly, there are ample physical buttons to help you reach the right menu directly which you then have to adjust from the screen – a far better application than most new cars which are doing away with the buttons altogether. The screens carry Kia’s latest software and are very responsive and easy to navigate through. The other elements on the dash are a mix of hard plastic and leatherette. Their fit, finish and quality are top notch and feel like they are built to last the duration of the car’s life. The seats are a tad bit softer than before and the upholstery is soft to touch, giving a further luxurious feeling. The steering too is chunky to hold and I personally like the squared circular shape that it has, makes it look sporty. Other features of use also include wireless charger, 360-degree camera, an 8-speaker Bose audio system (which sounds better than the one before), panoramic sunroof, electronic parking brake, downhill speed assist and key proximity sensor to ensure you never need to take the key out of your pocket to unlock the car. Things it misses out on are powered tail-gate and a boss mode for the front seat. Strangely, it also misses out on rear seat ventilation, which is available on the Syros, from a lower segment; but it gets one level of seat recline instead.

The increased wheelbase really shows its worth in the rear seat where the increased space is very noticeable. Kia seems to have taken that opportunity to also increase the under-thigh support, along with the knee room. The rear windows also now get sun blinds, which are a welcome addition and there are two USB type-C ports for the rear passengers as well. The boot space too has gone up marginally by 34-litres and can now house 447-litres. That improved ride quality shows up the most for the rear passengers as they no longer feel the brunt of the harshness of the suspension and instead feel like they are in a car that has matured in all aspects.

2026 Kia Seltos safety

Safety has begun to become an important consideration, and rightly so. The new platform gives much more structural rigidity than before and there are 10 more hot stamping parts, which is an 8 per cent increase from the previous gen. While all this improves the safety in the event of a crash, the level 2 ADAS has been given 21 autonomous features to avoid one altogether. The OTA update for the ECU I mentioned earlier plays its part here too. The car is level 2+ ADAS ready, which will add seven more autonomous features when that update is rolled out. This OTA ECU functionality can not only make updates to the car, it can also diagnose the car for any faults, avoiding a visit to the service centre. This same information can also be received by your service centre, who can be ready with the fix by the time you reach there.

2026 Kia Seltos verdict

At the time of writing, official pricing remains under wraps. However, given the significant leap in dimensions, safety kit, and overall refinement, a premium of around 15 per cent over the outgoing model wouldn't be surprising. Unlike its 2019 debut, the Seltos now enters a far more crowded arena, facing off against the Maruti Grand Vitara, VW Taigun, and the soon to be updated Skoda Kushaq – not to mention the impending return of the Renault Duster and the perennial benchmark, the Hyundai Creta.

Kia has not disappointed. In many ways, the Seltos feels as though it has shifted up half a gear into a higher segment, setting a new bar for the class. But I can already hear you asking: “What about the Sierra?” It’s a valid point. In a market where every rival brings a unique, undeniable USP to the table, the buyer has never had it tougher. Yet, if you value a proven, tech-laden, and rock-solid performer, the Seltos should be in your shopping list.