Kia Motors entered the Indian market in 2019 with its Seltos mid-size SUV and relished instant success. Kia Seltos garnered huge sales numbers for the carmaker and the SUV is striving to become one of the most successful cars of the Indian Automobile History. Not just the Seltos, Kia also boomed the MPV segment of the country by launching its Kia Carnival Premium MPV. The luxury people-mover also found a lot of takers and the South Korean manufacturer is now looking at bringing in other cars to India over the next few years. According to recent reports, Kia is evaluating to launch the Kia Soul Petrol Crossover in India.
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Kia Motors India is considering to launch the Soul Petrol crossover in the near future and the launch of the Soul EV is also under consideration. If you remember, the long-range version of the Kia Soul EV was showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo in Greater Noida, India and as per Kia Motors, it received a positive response from the visitors at the biennial event. Kia Motors is known for its designing prowess and the youthful and funky design of the Soul EV has highly impressed the Indian audience.
Speaking to C&B, Manohar Bhat, Vice President & Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia Motors India said, "We got a lot of feedback from customers at the Auto Expo 2020 about the Soul. The Soul is a very young and different looking vehicle. While the Soul EV might not be a viable solution for India right now, it Soul is available in other powertrains and it is well worth looking at. We have got very positive feedback about the design of the Soul. We will look at the Soul or a similar vehicle for the Indian market going forward. We are seriously looking at it and we'll bring it only after checking out on how the market is progressing."
Kia Soul EV wouldn't work well in the country because currently the EV space of India is in its nascent stage and the demand for such vehicles is very low. However, Kia Soul Petrol can definitely work for the Indian market. Globally, the Kia Soul is available with two petrol engines: a 1.6-litre turbocharged motor and a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated unit. The turbo-petrol engine churns out a whopping 201 PS of power and 264 Nm of torque and comes mated to a 7-speed DCT. While the naturally-aspirated motor develops 147 PS and comes mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and a CVT.
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All Kia cars always come to India as a feature-loaded package and we expect the same with the Kia Soul too. The launch timeline of Soul Petrol isn't confirmed yet but if everything goes right, it might be the fourth Kia offering in India. In other news, Kia Motors will launch its first sub-4-metre compact SUV Kia Sonet in India before this festive season to set a new benchmark in its category. The production name of the Sonet could be changed at a later date and it will rival the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Mahindra XUV 300, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon and Ford Ecosport.
