Kia Motors India releases its first brand teaser
Kia Motor India today released its first brand teaser for the Indian market. In keeping with the brand's youthful image, the teaser is quite quirky. There is an international-spec Kia Sportage SUV on a revolving platform with an astronaut in a space suit floating over it.
Early this year, Kia Motors announced it is set up a plant in Andhra Pradesh. This plant, in addition to taking care of the domestic demands here, will also cater to the international market. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Andhra Pradesh to build its facility in Anantapur district. The sprawling factory is spread across 536 acres and has facilities for stamping, welding, painting and assembly. The plant will have a capacity of approximately 3,00,000 cars annually. Kia will start marketing its cars in late 2019. Kia Motors will invest about $1.1 billion in India.
Kia Motors India is looking to begin its innings in the country with the crossover SUV based on the KIA SP Concept. This car will make its debut in India by May 2019. The SUV, likely to be named Tusker, has already been spied undergoing tests, with images and a recent video of the test mule. The spy video shows a heavily camouflaged SUV but it is clear that a lot of the concept's design cues will make it to production.
The overall blocky shape of the car remains but creases and surfacing have been toned down to make for a viable production car. The front fascia retains the concept large two-part grille while the headlamps, though not as large, retain the same basic shape and layout. Naturally, the oversized wheels and large contoured bumpers have been toned down too.
The production version of the SP will sit on a platform derived from the Hyundai Creta. New powertrain options will be available. This includes a new BS-VI compliant 1.5-litre diesel motor which is expected to put out 115PS and 250Nm. The 1.6-litre diesel unit from the Creta will be replaced by this. A new petrol, also of 1.5-litre displacement, will also be made available. This motor is also expected to support hybrid powertrain components by 2023.
Starts Rs 9.99 Lakhs
1353cc
Automatic
115
242
-NA-
-NA-
1995cc
Automatic
185
402
12 Kmpl
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