Passenger vehicle (PV) manufacturer Kia India is working to introduce the hybrid technology at an affordable price in the country, as the company confirmed that the popular Seltos mid-size SUV will get a hybrid powertrain.
Moneycontrol reported in June 2025 that the Seltos hybrid will be on Indian roads by the calendar year (CY) 2027.
Among the mass-market PV manufacturers in India, only Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars India are offering hybrid models at present. Some of these models are the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Maruti Suzuki Invicto, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Toyota Innova Hycross and Honda City e:HEV.
While the Grand Vitara, Victoris and Urban Cruiser Hyryder are mid-size SUVs, the Invicto and the Innova Hycross are based in the MPV segment. The City represents the mid-size sedan segment.
India's largest-selling mid-size SUV, the Hyundai Creta, will also get a hybrid powertrain by CY27. Another mid-size SUV, the Honda Elevate, will enter the market in a hybrid avatar in the second half of CY26.
Hybrid car volumes have remained modest due to a limited number of available models, with growth progressing at a gradual pace. Sales rose from 41,477 units in FY23 to 90,460 units in FY24, before increasing further to 1,04,800 units in FY25. In terms of PV market share, hybrids accounted for 1.1% in FY23, which increased to 2.1% in FY24 and 2.4% in FY25.
During a conversation with Moneycontrol, Kia India's Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, Atul Sood, said: "We are working on hybrids, there is no doubt about it. The only endeavour we are currently working on is to introduce the hybrid technology in India at an affordable price. For that, we are working towards localisation of the hybrid components."
"Globally, we have fully developed advanced hybrid technology. Our endeavour is to localise it at a competitive price so that our customers find it affordable. But definitely we will be introducing the hybrid technology in the country," he added.
When asked about the models that will get the hybrid technology, Sood observed that the company is looking at several of them, including the Seltos.
"The Seltos definitely will come in hybrid technology. It is in our scheme of things. Will it be the first one? I will not be able to confirm that because we have specific plans and we will take it as it comes. There could be some other model also which could be in the line and comes in earlier," he noted.
However, he did not disclose the official timeline for the launch of the Seltos hybrid or any other Kia hybrid model in India.
Sharing his thoughts on the affordability of hybrid cars, Sood pointed out that the industry already has benchmarks with rival manufacturers present in this space.
"What I mean by affordable is the technology. For example, you have one model already available in an internal combustion engine (ICE). If you have the same model which is available in hybrid, what is the premium a customer would be willing to pay for the differential technology? There are already industry benchmarks. We have competition already there. So we have a broad idea about what the customer is willing to pay because we have competition as a benchmark," he said.
Earlier this month, Kia unveiled the second-generation version of the Seltos. For reference, the first-generation model entered the market in August 2019, accumulating handsome sales of over 2,00,000 units in just two years. Till now, the Seltos has garnered sales of over 5,80,000 units.
While bookings are underway for the new Seltos, its price will be announced on January 2.
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