Leading SUV manufacturer Kia India will market the new Seltos, unveiled earlier this month on 4 July, at a special introductory price of INR 10,89,900 (ex-showroom) pan-India. One of the most-anticipated SUVs, the new Seltos comes in 18 variants with top of the trim with ADAS– GT-line and X Line in both diesel and petrol engines and will cost INR 19,79,900 and INR 19,99,900, (ex-showroom) pan-India, respectively. The new Seltos has received an overwhelming response, recording the segment’s highest day 1 booking of 13,424 units.

Customers can book their variant of choice through the Kia India official website and any of the authorized dealerships of Kia India by paying an initial booking amount of INR 25,000.
The launch of the new Seltos is in line with Kia’s “commitment to setting industry benchmarks with innovative offerings at competitive prices which has fuelled the growth of segments in the past,” says Tae-Jin Park, Managing Director and CEO, Kia India. Park expects the new Seltos to continue this trend with its advanced ADAS level 2, top-notch safety features and innovative technology to appeal to the discerning new-age customers. “Coupled with a wide range of variant choices, aggressive pricing, and a seamless ownership experience, the new Seltos is not only the smartest driving experience but also the best buy in the market,” assures Park. “With the launch of new Seltos, Hardeep Singh Brar – National Head, Sales & Marketing, is aiming for the company to be one of the top mid-SUV segment leaders again and hope for a strong sales surge.
The new Seltos leads the mid-SUV space with segment-leading features such as dual screen panoramic display with 26.04 cm fully digital cluster, 26.03 cm HD touchscreen navigation, dual zone fully automatic air conditioner, glossy black alloy wheels, 32 safety features, including 15 robust safety features (standard across the range) and 17 ADAS level 2 autonomous features. It also has much-awaited features like the dual pane panoramic sunroof, electric parking brake and the efficient smartstream G1.5 T-GDi petrol engine, which generates 160PS of power and 253 Nm of torque.

“Kia India is growing faster than the industry and we have kept our performance steady with healthy growth,´ says Brar. This is despite the realignment of manufacturing process to accommodate the development of the new Seltos. Kia India recorded domestic sales of 1,36,108 units, registering almost 12 per cent Y-o-Y growth in first half of 2023. The Sonet emerged as the best-selling Kia product, with sales of 53,491 units, followed closely by the Kia Carens at 40,771 units. In June 2023, the company sold 19,391 in the domestic market. Combining June figures with exports, the dispatches stood at 28,091 units.

Adequate rainfall across the country along with the start of the long festive season will keep the demand for automobiles positive and help keep the momentum going, rating agency CareEdge said in a report on Tuesday.

It said that new model launches by the automakers along with some improvement in the availability of semiconductors helped sustain the demand for automobiles in July.

On a year-on-year basis, the domestic sales vehicles’ growth stood at 11 per cent, with 2.9 per cent growth on a month-on-month basis.

With the upcoming festive season, the automakers are focusing on building up inventory in anticipation of higher demand, the report said.

The domestic sales in the two-wheeler segment registered a growth of 5.5 per cent on a monthly basis in July 2022, with the scooters subsegment growing strongly by 14 per cent while the motorcycles sub-segment grew marginally by 2 per cent.

“Normal monsoons in most parts of the country resulting in a decent agricultural harvest kept the demand sentiment positive.” Coming to exports, shipments for two-wheelers fell 9.6 per cent on a monthly basis with declining export sales of 15 per cent motorcycles sub-segment as the international markets were facing some headwinds due to rising inflation, geopolitical tensions, and adverse economic conditions in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The passenger vehicle segment domestic sales showed an improvement in sales of 6.3 per cent on in July.

“The OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are continuously launching new models, especially in the compact SUV segment which will further help to sustain the demand in the festive season. With the improving availability of semiconductor chips, there is an expectation of a lower waiting period in the coming months,” the report said. However, the third hike in repo rates by the Reserve Bank of India to restrain high inflation will make auto loans costlier.

“This (lending rate hike) may restrict the growth, especially in entry-level vehicle segments which have price-sensitive customers,” it further said.

India’s e-mobility journey is on a fast track, with an estimated 45-50 million electric vehicles (EVs) on road by 2030, a new report said on Tuesday.

As the EV ecosystem matures at a rapid pace, a critical facilitator of EV adoption is ready availability of slow and fast chargers ensuring easy access to efficient and cost-effective charging, according to a KPMG in India report.

“Development of a robust charging network has gone hand-in-hand with accelerated EV adoption across the world, and we believe a similar trend is expected to play out in India,” said Rohan Rao, Partner, M&A Consulting, KPMG in India.

Charging technologies will vary by different vehicle segments and public and private charging solutions will be deployed to serve different customer segments and use cases, according to the report.

“2Ws and 3Ws are best suited for AC slow charging. Battery swapping is likely to be the more prevalent model for use cases requiring quick charging turnaround,” it added.

The Indian market is likely to have a dense network of AC private and public chargers and DC chargers to be restricted to buses and few use cases for 4Ws and LCVs. According to the report, expectations from home/workplace charging are likely to be different from destination charging or on the go charging which will differ from fleet charging.

“Strategic partnerships for real estate and interoperability among CPOs/ service providers are crucial to strengthen customer proposition,” the findings showed. “With an estimated 50 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030, the potential opportunity for a pure play charging business is enormous, Rao added.

The Indian automobile industry has posted robust growth last month with passenger/commercial vehicles and two-wheelers logging growth while the tractor segment lagged behind.

Passenger car majors clocked total sales of over 3.43 lakh last month as compared to July last year.

The commercial vehicle’s sector maintained robust growth momentum, driven by strong demand in both passenger and cargo segments, said Emkay Global Financial Services.

Similarly, the passenger and two-wheelers makers also showed growth owing to higher production and inventory build up with dealers in the run-up to festive season, Emkay Global said.

In comparison, tractor volumes declined notably due to a high base and uneven spread of the monsoon season.

“We expect the industry volume to improve gradually every month over the next 3-4 months backed festival season kicking in now,” Mitul Shah, Head of Research at Reliance Securities said in a report.

According to Shah, the softening commodity prices and stable fuel prices would support industry ahead and the sector to log double digit growth in FY23.

Car industry leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd closed July, selling 175,916 units (domestic 145,666 units, sales to other vehicle maker 9,939 units, exports 20,311 units) as against July 2021 numbers of 162,462 units (domestic 133,732 units, OEM sales 4,738 units, exports 21,224 units). The second largest car maker, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, registered 63,851 units (domestic 50,500 units, exports 13,351 units) last month as against 60,249 units (domestic 48,042 units, exports 12, 207 units) in July 2021.

Herbert Diess, the current chairman of the board of management of the German motor vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen Group, has said that the carmaker will take the lead over Elon Musk’s Tesla by 2025. During a meeting at the company’s headquarters in Germany, Diess said that Tesla will lose its strength trying to ramp up two gigafactories — one in Austin, Texas and the other in Grunheide, Germany, reports the Daily Mail. He sees this as an opportunity to take the lead, as Volkswagen is running at full capacity. “Elon must simultaneously ramp up two highly complex factories in Austin and Grunheide — and expand production in Shanghai. That will cost him strength,” he told workers on Tuesday, as first reported by Financial Times. “We have to seize this opportunity and catch up quickly — by 2025 we can be in the lead,” he added. Diess has had his sights set on Tesla for quite some time — earlier this year he said Volkswagen is capable of selling more electric vehicles than its rival by 2025. During the presentation, Diess also mentioned that Tesla is weakening and then presented a slide with a meme that showed actor Jason Momoa representing Volkswagen creeping up behind fellow actor Henry Cavill cast as Tesla. Diess and Musk are friendly outside of the EV race, but the German executive continually notes Tesla as Volkswagen’s biggest rival. Volkswagen sold 4,52,900 electric vehicles worldwide in 2021, while Tesla sold 9,30,422. It is listed fourth when it comes to electric car companies and fifth among the largest EV companies.

German prosecutors have launched investigations into regional offices of Hyundai Motor and Kia in Germany and Luxembourg. The prosecutors said it will deploy 140 investigators from the Hessen State Police, Frankfurt Prosecutors and Luxembourg investigation authorities to obtain evidence, communication data, software, and design documents along with the European Justice Organization (Eurojust). According to the prosecutors, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and its parts partner Borgwarner Group allegedly manipulated the diesel emissions. The prosecutors accused them of fraud and air pollution. The companies have distributed more than 2,10,000 units of diesel vehicles with manipulated diesel emissions devices by 2020, the prosecution said. Due to the manipulated device, the exhaust gas purifiers of the vehicle were not properly working, emitting more nitrogen oxide than permitted, the prosecution explained. Prosecutors said that the companies did not notify customers that the vehicles did not meet the Euro 5 or Euro 6 standards, the European environmental standards. Customers might have damaged due to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s deception, the prosecution added. The vehicles caught are all models of Hyundai and Kia equipped with 1.1L, 1.4L, 1.6L, 1.7L, 2.0L and 2.2L diesel engines. The engine control software was allegedly produced by Bosch and Delphi, a parts subsidiary of Borgwarner Group, the prosecution said.