The Korean carmaker KIA Motors is preparing to instigate seven models in India. Kia Sp will be the first compact SUV in India which will be based on a reworked platform of Hyundai Kreta and is supposed to be equipped with BSVI petrol and Diesel engines. It was first showcased at the Auto Expo 2018. Apart from the Kia SP concept based SUV, the company is also reportedly contemplating over starting on the Kia Stonic and Kia Grand Carnival in India. Both products were showcased at the Auto Expo and has generated strong interest from the Indian public.
The company had developed a microsite to encourage people to take part in a determination of the name of the production edition of the Kia SP Concept. Four options to pick from are - Tusker, ToP-Z, and Trailster. Currently, Tusker is in the lead followed by Trazor. Voting was carried on until June 20, 2018. Therefore, Kia SP concept can be launched as ‘Kia Tusker’, which is specially designed for emerging markets. Its concept is based on an updated version of the Hyundai Creta’s platform. It is speculated that both models could have corresponding engine and technology.
The upcoming Kia SUV in India will be a streamlined edition of the Hyundai Creta's concept. However, supremacy of the SUV will be a set of new-age petrol and diesel engines. These engines will be BS6-acquiescent and are accounted to provide remarkable sophistication and fuel efficiency. The diesel engine is supposed to produce 115 bhp and 250 Nm of torque. It is also anticipated that its petrol engine will be equipped with 1.0-litre T-GDI turbo charged petrol engine. But most probably it will be available in 5-seater version in the beginning and as the pace progresses, 7-seater version may also be its next target. The production of the car is ought to take place in the company’s plant located at Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh.
Kia motors has been planning to start the process of selling cars in the Indian market since a year. From the reliable reports it came to be known that company is going to take its success story forward in India with its first car, the SP Concept, in the second half of 2019, probably in July. It is anticipated that the company will be aiming for vigorous levels of localisation with the purpose to attain "competitive pricing" for the upcoming Kia SUV in India. In order to achieve it the company has taken a decision to fast-track the launch of the SUV and bring it to showrooms by mid-2019.
The car seems somewhat subdued edition of the thoroughly premeditated SP Concept. It preserves numerous design elements, together with lustrous LED headlamps, a spacious frame and the supplementary lamps. It depicts blacked-out A-pillars and a front bumper that was exceedingly analogous to the one on the concept model. The proposed design of the Kia Tusker matches with Kia's theory that the production-spec SUV "will be very close" to the concept on which it stands.
