Kia to Bring another SUV to India after SP Concept
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Editor Garipoint
Kia announces India entry with concept SUV SP Concept: Auto Expo 2018

Kia Motors India Ltd, a subsidiary of Korean car maker Hyundai Motor Company, announced its entrance in the Indian market with another concept sports utility vehicle (SUV) known as SP Concept.

However, the carmaker just revealed the SP SUV concept and chose not to exhibit the new version of the Rio sedan, which is currently on sale in global markets, at the show. This leaves us wondering what the second model from Kia could be.

Conversing with insiders at the Auto Expo 2018, we became more acquainted with that Kia is intending to acquire another SUV to India in the second half of 2020, which will be the brand's second offering for our market. While the carmaker did not have any desire to reveal much about the positioning of the vehicle in its lineup or the powertrain options since the product is in very early stages of development, we were assured that it is not one of the products in Kia's current global lineup.

Since Kia is building up a new platform for this product, we believe the company is planning to enter the sub-compact SUV segment to go up against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, and the Ford EcoSport. The new platform will enable Kia to bring entry-level and premium hatchbacks alongside a sub-4m sedan. It remains to be seen what the Korean carmaker will do in future. However, since it is developing products particularly for the Indian market, it seems that the carmaker is dead set on succeeding in our competitive market. 

"Kia Motors is delighted to enter India which is set to catapult into the world's fifth largest economy this year. We at KMI are thrilled to start our operations at such a favorable time and additional forecasts predict that India will be one of the largest car markets in a few years," Kookhun Shim, managing director and chief executive officer, Kia Motors India.