Kia Seltos and MG Hector – the two cars that beat the slowdown blues

• Kia is now India’s fifth largest car company.
• In October alone, Kia sold 12,800 cars.
• Kia Seltos and MG Hector both were the only cars to have positive news while the country was in the middle of an auto slowdown.

Kia Seltos and MG Hector could have chosen a better time to launch in India as auto sales have been dipping. Unexpectedly though neither of these international brands suffered from what is affecting top players in India.

Amidst the melee, Kia emerged as one of India’s largest car companies. It grew so fast that it took up the fifth position in sales, beating Honda and Toyota. In October alone, Kia sold 12,800 cars, whereas its bookings raced past 50,000.

Kia Seltos has also been nominated for the 2020 World Car of the year. On Dhanteras, an Indian festival, Kia delivered over 2100 cars.

What worked in Kia’s favour, is that all three of its variants are BSVI compliant. Most other companies are still selling their BSIV models even as the Indian government set an April 2020 deadline to sell them. This is one of the many reasons for the auto slowdown.

Meanwhile, MG Hector— India’s first internet car —launched in June. It got 10,000 bookings with a 4-month wait period. The carmaker had to stop taking bookings after the number hit 21,000 and later restarted. It also delivered 700 units of MG Hector on Dhanteras day.

Both these cars are SUVs. While the price for Kia Seltos ranges between ₹9.6-16 lakhs, MG Hector ranges between ₹12-₹16.8 lakhs.