Kia Motors India To Debut Faster Than Expected — First Kia Model To Launch Four Months Early

Published: Friday, September 14, 2018, 15:16 [IST]

Kia Motors is planning to debut its first product in India, sometime around April 2019. This is four months ahead of its actual intended launch date, which was around July or August next year.

According to carandbike, the company's plant construction in India is 60 days ahead of schedule. This will allow Kia to begin the trial production process by early 2019. The trial period will also help the company's parts suppliers begin accepting orders for the new product.

Kia Motors To Introduce Their First Product By April 2019; Speed Up India Entry

The first product from Kia Motors will be the SP Concept based SUV, likely to be named as Trazor. The car is expected to roll out the production line by end-April, with deliveries scheduled for May 2019.

Kia has already shared the early launch plans to their dealership network. The company is working on having its dealership presence in all top cities across the country. This will allow them 85 to 90 percent of coverage in the main car buying population, right from the start.

Apart from their new SUV, Kia is also planning on introducing two new products; a premium hatchback and a compact sedan. The premium hatchback is expected to be the Rio offering from the brand. Kia Motors is also studying the Indian market for the launch of its large MPV, the Carnival.

Besides these launches, Kia is also looking into a possible introduction of a more compact MPV and also a sub-compact SUV model. Kia's sister company, Hyundai Motors is also looking into the sub-compact SUV segment themselves.

Thoughts On Kia Motors In India

Kia Motors has been planning to debut at the Indian market for a while now. With their plant production going ahead of schedule, the company hopes to introduce their products earlier than planned. Their first product will take on rivals such as the Tata Nexon and the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza in India.