2027 Kia Seltos Hybrid won't repeat Niro's pricing mistakes

Kia says the new Seltos Hybrid will be as affordable as it is capable, with its sights set on key rivals from Hyundai and Toyota.

2 hours ago

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James Wong

Marketplace Editor

James Wong

Marketplace Editor

The second-generation Kia Seltos Hybrid has been developed with affordability in mind, says one of the Korean brand's top-ranking officials.

Speaking with Australian media in Seoul, South Korea, senior vice president for Kia Global, Spencer Cho, said the company is super aware of the segment's current competitiveness, and the new SUV should offer "comparable pricing" to key rivals.

"The overarching theme right now in the auto industry, not only for [the Australian] market but also the rest of the world, is affordability. I think we are very much being cautious to develop the Seltos as a competitive product to deliver comparable pricing [to its rivals]," Mr Cho said.

"This is the entry-level SUV, and considering the customers, their household incomes and purchasing budget, pricing is the key thing. Of course, as a true entry-level SUV, we try to offer the best-in-class capabilities as well, so this is a very delicate dance between capabilities and affordability – but we think the Seltos will deliver the verifying choices for Australian customers."

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Australian pricing and specifications are still to be confirmed, but Mr Cho's comments lead CarExpert to understand base pricing for the hybrid-only SUV range will be aimed directly at the related Hyundai Kona Hybrid (from $36,950 before on-road costs) as well as the hybrid-only Toyota Corolla Cross (from $37,440 before on-roads).

That's a nice pivot from the approach used for the related Niro, which is now discontinued in Australia but was positioned as a much more premium proposition despite also sharing its 'K3' platform with the new Seltos as well as the Kona and the Hyundai i30 Sedan.

When the full range was last officially on sale, the base Niro Hybrid S started from $45,000 plus on-road costs, similar in price to the flagship Kona Hybrid Premium ($45,950) but with specification levels that were worse than the base Hyundai.

That translated to poor sales, too. For the 2025 calendar year, the Niro only returned 454 registrations, down 68.8 per cent on 2024's still below-average result of 1455 units.

By comparison, the Hyundai Kona managed a massive 22,769 registrations throughout 2025 to take out segment leadership, with 10,407 of those (or 45.7 per cent) being hybrid models.

Mr Cho is also confident that supply of the new Seltos should meet market demand, given the first-gen model was subject to lengthy wait times on numerous occasions, particularly for the top-spec GT-Line.

"With all-new Seltos, we see growing demand globally, so that’s why we specifically allocated the Australian product in Korea to produce as many hybrid models [as we can]. So I hope that the Seltos will produce more Australian-bound hybrid models, as many as we can," Mr Cho said.

It's understood the Australian-market Seltos will be produced in the same factory that supplies the European and UK markets, the latter similarly taking a hybrid-only lineup like Australia – and also like Australia, pricing and specifications for the British lineup are yet to be confirmed.

However, unlike Australia, Kia UK continues to sell the Niro Hybrid/EV as well as the similarly sized XCeed mild-hybrid small crossover SUVs, with both recently receiving comprehensive facelifts, so it's unclear how the Seltos will be positioned there relative to its stablemates.

Down Under, the only other small 'SUV' in the Korean brand's lineup is the EV3, which given its more premium price point (currently from $46,990 D/A) should give the Seltos some breathing room at the lower end.