Kia Seltos Gets Five Star Safety Rating

What a crazy spin that the Kia Seltos will be coming to American shores for the 2021 model year . Did anyone expect that to happen? Either way, the new crossover has a lot going for it, and the Seltos has many differences when compared with the rest of the lineup that sets it apart. There has also been an information leak about an electric version of the Seltos , but that sadly won’t make it ashore – probably. Either way, every trim of the Kia Seltos recently scored a 5-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

It should be made clear that the vehicle model tested was the Australian-spec version of the Kia Seltos launched in October 2019, not the to be North American model. However, we can’t see many changes between the Seltos 2020 and 2021 model year changing much except for the powertrains, obviously. In short, the Seltos did very well across multiple categories ANCAP tests for.

Unlike other safety rating organizations like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the ANCAP doesn’t seem to break down a vehicle’s rating based on certain features that can make or break the rating. An “if-then” situation, or maybe the Kia Seltos is just safe no matter which trim a consumer gets. Seems that would be the case with the Australian-spec Kia Seltos model that comes with better safety equipment in comparison to the India-spec model. Even with the much more stringent safety regulations in Australia, the ANCAP five-star safety rating awarded to the Kia Seltos is applicable across the variant line-up sold in Australia.

The Kia Seltos had high scores in each category. For each, the Seltos scored 85-percent in adult occupant protection, 83-percent in child occupant protection, 61-percent in vulnerable road user protection, and 70-percent in safety-assist categories. In the Australian-spec model, radar-based autonomous braking comes standard along with other driver-assist systems. These may be the blind-spot collision avoidance, forward collision-avoidance assist, and highway driving assist systems mentioned for the US-spec model. Regardless, on a global scale, the Kia Seltos is turning to be quite hit in the auto industry. Not only that, but after the sale that came with the large Kia Telluride SUV in March, followed by the success of the Kai Seltos, Kia Motors has become the fourth-largest carmaker in the world.

Now we know what some may be thinking. What about the Hyundai Venue? Kia Motors is situated under the Hyundai Motors umbrella, but the two are still in competition, regardless of the technology and platforms they may share. According, to ANCAP, the Australian-spec Venue, better equipped and slightly longer than the Indian-spec version, only scored four-stars.

Now that that’s been cleared up, we’re all just waiting on a price. Projections are looking at something in the $22,000 range for the starting MSRP. It’s possible, given the rupee-US dollar conversion came out to about $13,577 (plus destination fee). We’ll know soon enough. Stay up to date with all the news following the Kia Seltos on Miami Lakes Kia social media .

Photo Source/Copyright: Kia.com

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