The New Kia Seltos Is Yet Another Crossover

There was a time when, if you wanted an SUV from a mainstream car company, you had one, maybe two choices. Now, though, the SUV and crossover market is a sprawling and often confusing place. Take Kia: if you want something high-riding from the South Korean giant, you have the choice of the Stonic, Niro, Sportage, Sorento, EV3, EV5 and EV9.

That range of seven is about to become eight, too, as the company has announced that this, the new Seltos, is coming to Europe next year. It’s actually the car's second generation, but the last one never came to these shores, whereas this one’s being sold globally.

Sized between the Stonic and Sportage, it occupies roughly the same ground as the Niro, but while that car comes only as a hybrid or EV, the Seltos gets pure petrol power (for now, at least – a hybrid is coming later in 2026).

Those petrol powertrains consist of a distinctly old-school entry level 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder making 147bhp, then two flavours of 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot – one with 178bhp, and one with 190bhp. However, Kia hasn’t confirmed if all three engines will make it to the UK – we wouldn’t be surprised to miss out on the boggo 2.0-litre. 

The usual mix of automatic and manual gearboxes applies, as does an optional all-wheel drive system, which comes with Snow, Mud and Sand terrain modes. That’ll be handy if there’s a sudden sandstorm in the Asda car park.

Outside, it’s got the looks of a Sorento that’s taken a minor hit from a shrink ray, with boxy proportions and Kia’s usual ‘Star Map’ lighting, complete with a wraparound rear light bar. The inside is very familiar from other Kias too, with the usual dual 12.3-inch screen setup divided by a dedicated climate control panel, plus some extremely welcome physical buttons. The full suite of driver assist systems and an AI-powered voice assistant are here too, although we could write that sentence about basically any new family car these days.

Full UK specs and an exact arrival date are still TBC, but if you can’t wait until next year to get your hands on one, at least Kia has you well-covered with its gazillion other crossovers.