Kia Seltos Vs Hyundai Creta: Will The Contender End The King's Reign?

The Hyundai Creta has been in the Indian market for quite a while now. It comes loaded with features and is also priced competitively in the segment. The Creta is also currently the leader of the mid-size SUV segment, bringing in consistent sales for the Korean brand month-on-month.

Is the 'best-seller' crown that the Hyundai Creta wears at risk with the launch of the Kia Seltos?

Design

The Kia Seltos comes with a completely fresh design, compared to any other SUV in the segment. It offers a bold, sporty and aggressive design; making it look both premium and imposing. The Hyundai Creta also comes with a boxy design. However, the design of the Creta has remained almost unchanged since its initial launch, making it look a tad bit outdated in front of the Kia Seltos.

Starting with the Kia Seltos, the SUV comes with all the gadgets and features, which is usually found in the higher segments. Starting from the front, the Kia Seltos features the brand's signature ‘tiger-nose' grille.

Flanking each side of the grille are a set of LED headlamps with integrated LED DRLs. The DRLs further extends over the front grille with a sweeping LED light bar.

There are also LED turn indicators, which are integrated into the headlamp cluster as well. The front fascia of the Kia Seltos also comes with Ice Cube LED fog lamps, central air intake surrounded by silver accents and a scuff plate as well.

Moving to the side, the Kia Seltos comes with a clean and minimalistic design, with just the flared wheel arches, sharp shoulder lines and the silver roof rails adding character.

The rear also comes with stylish wrap-around LED taillights, along with a chrome strip running across the width of the SUV. The rear bumpers also feature silver-finished scuff plates, adding to the rugged looks of the Seltos.

Moving to the Hyundai Creta, the SUV features the brand's signature ‘cascading grille' up front. Flanking either side are a pair of LED projector headlamps. The front grille is surrounded by chrome, giving a premium look to the front design of the SUV.

Lower down, the Hyundai Creta comes with fog lamps on the front bumper. The fog lamps on the Creta are surrounded by LED DRLs at either end, while the central part of the bumper houses the air intake; again surrounded by silver accents and scuff plates at the bottom.

Similar to the Kia Setlos, the Hyundai Creta also carries forward a clean and minimalistic design on the sides. The flared wheel arches, sharp shoulder lines and the 17-inch alloy wheels add to the character on the side. Moving to the rear of the Creta, the SUV features wrap-around LED taillights and reflectors and scuff plates housed on the rear bumpers.

Interiors & Features

Moving to the interiors of the two SUVs. Both products offer a premium look and feel, with good quality interiors, soft-touch material all around and a host of features and technology. However, this is where the similarities end.

The Kia Seltos comes with a host of best-in-class and segment-first features, making the cabin of the Creta look drab and old. The Kia Seltos comes with neatly laid out cabin, with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system at the centre. It also comes with a 2.0-inch fully-digital instrument cluster as well. The infotainment system also comes with Kia's own connectivity technology, called the UVO connect.

The Seltos GT-Line comes with an all-black interior and a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel with the ‘GT-Line' logo. The steering wheel also features mounted controls for the audio, calls and cruise control settings. The SUV also features a segment-first 8.0-inch heads-up display as well — here are all the important features on the Kia Seltos.

The Hyundai Creta, on the other hand, also comes with a host of features. This includes a blacked-out cabin, with silver accents along with the central console, AC vents and the steering wheel.

Other features on the Hyundai Creta include electrically-adjustable ORVMs with integrated turn signals, cruise control, seven-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, steering-mounted audio controls, wireless phone charging and a host of others.

The Creta also comes with a host of safety equipment, including ABS with EBD, driver and passenger airbags, reverse parking sensors, immobiliser, lane change indicator, high-speed alert and a bunch of others as well.

Overall Interiors & Feature Rating:
Kia Seltos: 9/10
Hyundai Creta: 7/10

Engine Specifications

The Kia Seltos is available in a range of three engine options: two petrol and one diesel. This includes 1.5-litre petrol, 1.5-litre diesel and the top-of-the-range 1.4-litre T-GDI petrol. All three engines are compliant with the upcoming BS-VI emission norms, which are set to be implemented from the 1st April 2020.

The Hyundai Creta is also available with three engine options: two diesel and one petrol. This includes 1.4-litre diesel, 1.6-litre diesel and 1.6-litre petrol. All three engines are still BS-IV compliant, with Hyundai yet to update the engines to comply with the upcoming emission norms.

Here are the exact specifications of the Kia Seltos and the Hyundai Creta:

Overall Engine Performance Rating:
Kia Seltos: 9/10
Hyundai Creta: 8/10

Dimensions

Both the Kia Seltos and the Hyundai Creta are sister brands, however, the Seltos SUV is slightly larger in dimensions compared to the Creta.

Here are the overall dimensions of both the Kia Seltos and the Hyundai Creta:

Overall Dimensions Rating:
Kia Seltos: 8.5/10
Hyundai Creta: 8/10

Pricing

The Kia Seltos comes with a starting price of Rs 9.69 lakh for the base Tech-Line variant. The top-spec variant in the GT-line is offered with a starting price of Rs 15.99 lakh. This undercuts the starting price of the Hyundai Creta, which is available with a starting price of Rs 9.99 lakh. The top-spec variant of the Hyundai Creta is, however, slightly more affordable at Rs 15.67 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom (Delhi).

Overall Price Rating:
Kia Seltos: 8/10
Hyundai Creta: 7.5/10

Verdict

The Kia Seltos was one of the most-awaited SUVs in the Indian market ever since its global debut back in June 2019. The car is made up of mostly segment-best or first-in-class features and offers excellent performance and driving characteristics.

The Hyundai Creta has been one of the most popular SUVs to date. It came loaded with features, good performance, and driving characteristics. However, the arrival of the Seltos in India makes these once sought after features and qualities fairly ‘in the past'. It looks like the era and reign of the King that was the Creta is coming to an end.