Kia Motors India has discontinued two variants of the Sonet subcompact SUV and one variant of the Seltos compact SUV. According to some of the Kia dealers, we spoke to, the carmaker will no longer have the HTK Plus DCT 1.0 Petrol and HTK Plus AT 1.5 Diesel variants of the Sonet, and the HTX Plus AT 1.5 Diesel of the Seltos on offer from mid-April 2021. Additionally, Kia Motors has also instructed its dealer partners to stop accepting bookings for the said variants from April 1, 2021, onwards. However, as per a leaked document, the company will honour deliveries of the aforementioned variants of the Sonet and Seltos that were booked by a customer on or before March 31, 2021.
We have reached out to Kia Motors India to get official confirmation and the reason for this decision, however, at the time of publishing this story, our email to the company remained unanswered.
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In the leaked document, Kia says that the decision was based on feedback and booking trends for the two SUVs
Having said that, in the leaked document, Kia explains that the decision was based on feedback and booking trends for the two SUVs, witnessed by the company. To that effect, the company will be rationalising the variants of the Sonet and Seltos from May 1, 2021, and more details will be provided then. So, it's possible that we might see more rejigging of variants.
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Unlike the Sonet, only the HTX Plus AT 1.5 Diesel variant of the Kia Seltos has been discontinued
All that said, what this means is that customers who might be looking at getting a mid-spec automatic variant of the Sonet, will have no option but to go for the top-of-the-line GTX Plus trim, which is about Rs. 2 lakh more expensive. And it's the case for both the petrol and diesel options. In the case of the Seltos, we are only losing one higher-spec diesel variant which is understandable considering the small price gap between the HTX Plus AT and the GTX Plus AT, which means the latter is likely to be more in demand.
