Three-row versions of compact and mid-size SUVs are the latest trend in the Indian automotive market right now. Essentially stretched versions of their five-seater siblings, these SUVs bring the added practicality of six or seven seats while not having to stretch your budget to a full-size three-row SUV. We thus saw the Hyundai Alcazar being born out of the Creta, the Tata Safari being born out of the Harrier and the MG Hector Plus being born out of the Hector.
Among all SUVs in this segment and price range, it is only the Kia Seltos that hasn't yet received the three-row treatment. Neither are there any talks of a three-row version of the Kia Seltos coming any time soon. This is particularly surprising given the entire competition has moved on the three-row segment. More importantly, Hyundai has already adapted the Creta platform for the three-row Alcazar, and so a 7-seater version of the Seltos should really be in the making.
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While we could not wait for Kia to show up with a three-row Seltos, our in-house designer, Shoeb R. Kalania, has come up with this beautiful rendering of the Kia Seltos to give you an idea of how a 7-seater version of the SUV could look like. Much like the Hyundai Alcazar, the most obvious change for the three-row Kia Seltos will be in its length in profile. Although it will be based on the five-seater Seltos platform, it will boast of an increased wheelbase along with extended front and rear overhangs. That also gives the SUV somewhat better portions.
Obviously, with an increase in length, the three-row Seltos will come with a more prominent rear-quarter glass area for the third row. The window line too has had to be revised to accommodate the same. At the rear, a three-row Seltos is likely to boast of a more upright tail section along with mildly revised bumper and tail lamps. Much like the Alcazar, the three-row Seltos could differentiate itself from its five-seater sibling with a new design for the grille along with larger and newer alloy wheels.
While a 7-seater Seltos may still be sometime away, Kia will soon be rolling out a mid-life update on the Seltos this April 27 in India. Some of the updates that are likely to feature in the new Seltos include a new logo, more features and possibly even a special Gravity Edition variant as a new top-spec model. Kia will also be introducing the intelligent clutchless manual transmission - iMT - on the Seltos for the first time. The Kia Seltos currently retails between INR 9.89 lakh and INR 17.65 lakh (ex-showroom) in India. Prices are likely to be increased marginally with the addition of new features. The new Gravity Edition will likely be positioned even higher.
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Kia updates and other four-wheeler news.
