2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos – Variant-wise Comparison

by Harish Kumar | 10/04/2020
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Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos have a lot of things in common, including engines and features package. IndianAuto gives you variant-wise comparison of 2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos so as to make a better choice.

Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos - Introduction

The 2020 Hyundai Creta has been launched in India. With the new-gen Creta, Hyundai aims to reclaim the crown of the best-selling SUV segment from its cousin, Kia Seltos. Literally, Hyundai Creta is the older brother of the Kia Seltos, which are sitting under the same umbrella of Hyundai Motor Company. Therefore, these two SUVs are identical underneath the skin as the new-gen Creta borrows the engines from the Seltos. However, as for the variant-wise features, the Creta bears a striking difference from the Seltos sibling. How does the 2021 Hyundai Creta compare with the Kia Seltos in terms of features from variant to variant? We’ll analyse in this Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos comparison.

kia seltos vs hyundai creta

Both Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta are sharing the same three engine options including a 1.5-litre MPI petrol, 1.5-litre CRDi diesel and a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol unit. Kia Seltos lands on the Indian market with two major trim levels – the HT-Line and GT-Line. While the Seltos HT-Line comprises of the HTE, HTK, HTX, HTK+ and HTX+ trims, the GT-Line comes with GTK, GTX, GTX+ models. It should be noted that the GT-Line is reversed for the turbo-petrol engine only.

Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos Features– 1.5-litre MPI engine

Let’s start with the 1.5-litre MPI engine shared by the 2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos.  As we know, apart from the IVT, the engine option is available with a 6-speed manual transmission right from the base HTE variants. Whereas, Hyundai does not offer its base E trim with a petrol-manual variant. The 1.5-litre MPI engine in the Creta is available with an IVT only. The EX trim is where we first see a manual-petrol option in availability. This trim gets the price starting at Rs 9.99 Lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) while the base petrol-manual variant of the Seltos is priced at Rs 9.89 Lakh. That said, the base price for the manual-petrol Creta is Rs 10,000 more expensive than the equivalent models of the Seltos.

Creta EX vs Seltos HTE

Prices: Creta EX - Rs 9.99 Lakh, Seltos HTE- Rs 9.89 Lakh

The Hyundai Creta EX shares a range of features with the Kia Seltos HTE. Both trims come with height-adjustable driver seats, fabric upholstery, power steering, power front & rear windows, accessory power outlets, rear AC vents, multifunction steering, keyless entry among others.

2020 hyundai creta black colour front angle

Hyundai Creta EX: is better-loaded than the Seltos HTE with features like an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, power tailgate, flat-bottom steering wheel, tyre pressure monitoring system, cooled glovebox, etc. which are given a miss on the Seltos’s HTE variants. The Kia Seltos’s base HTE trim makes do with a 3.5-inch 2DIN Audio system with Bluetooth connectivity.

However, if you move up a bit to the Seltos HTK trim which is positioned at Rs 10.29 Lakhs, you will get more features than what the EX could offer, namely the power-folding wing mirrors, 6-speaker music system and so on.

Hyundai Creta S vs Kia Seltos HTK+

Price: Creta S: Rs 11.72 Lakh, Seltos HTK +: Rs 11.49 Lakh

Kia Seltos HTK+ and Hyundai Creta S all get cruise control, engine push start/stop, keyless entry, rear wiper & washer, cruise control as some highlighting features for the petrol-manual variant.

The mid-spec Hyundai Creta S is slightly costlier than the Seltos HTK+ hence the former has a couple of features to offer over the HTK+ trim. In this trim line, the Creta comes with some extra equipment like leather-wrapped gear level, auto climate control, driver rear-view monitor, manual rear seat curtains, rear defogger and rear parking camera.

kia seltos silver side angle

However, what’s interesting is that the Seltos HTK+ also comes armed with some features that the Creta S does not have. For example, the HTK+ gets a set of 16-inch alloy wheels while the Creta S makes do with 16-inch steel wheel. The Kia’s offering even features more features like LED mood lighting, one-touch up/down function for driver window and rear sunshade.

Hyundai Creta SX vs Kia Seltos HTX

Price: Creta SX: Rs 13.46 Lakh, Seltos HTX: Rs 13.09 Lakh

For these trims, the Hyundai Creta SX turns out to be similarly-equipped as the Seltos HTX counterpart regarding the features both cars have to offer.

Both models come with LED headlamps vs LED daytime running lamps and 17-inch alloy wheels on the outside, of course save for the different design patterns. You can check our 2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos comparison review to see which car is better looking.

2020 hyundai creta front angle

Back to the interior features, the two trims of the Creta vs Seltos both have a same-sized 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system on the inside. Ambient mood lighting, leather-wrapped steering, wireless charging, adjustable headrests, four-wheels disc brakes, 60:40 split rear seats with reclining function, USB ports for the middle row, tilt and telescopic steering, auto temperature control, TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system) are some things that both Creta SX and Seltos HTX have in common.

2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos | Auto Expo 2020

With the same engine and almost similar feature package, why Hyundai puts the Creta SX higher than the Seltos HTX in terms of pricing? The reason is that Hyundai Creta SX comes with a shot in the arm by introducing some additional features which are not available in the Seltos. Customers can avail chrome-plated outside door handles, power sunroof, rear armrest with cup holder, ESC, hill-start assist and vehicle stability management on the Creta SX.

Hyundai Creta SX, SX (O) vs Kia Seltos HTX (automatic variants)

Hyundai offers the CVT automatic transmission with the 1.5-litre MPI petrol engine in two trim levels while the Kia Seltos makes do with the HTX trim only.

The automatic variant of the Seltos HTX comes with the same feature package as the manual variant. Comparing the Creta SX AT vs the Seltos HTX AT, we notice that the Hyundai car, once again, gets some additional features over the Kia counterpart. The Creta comes with paddle shifters, air purifier, electric parking brake, driver modes and traction control while they are given a miss on the HTX grade of the Seltos. Also, panoramic sunroof, ESV, hill start assist, rear armrest with cup holders are part of the added features.

kia seltos front angle

Even with the SX(O), it also towers the Seltos HTX for many features it has on offer, such as six airbags. 17-inch alloy wheels, leather seats, front ventilated seats, 8-speaker Bose sound system, 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, remote engine and more. The reason is understandable. Hyundai places the 1.5-litre petrol engine with automatic gearbox option on the top-spec SX(O) trim so they equip the variant to the gills with all the bells and whistles they have to offer.

Also Read - 2020 Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos - Which One to Pick?

The HTX, in the meantime, is not the top-spec trim in Seltos’s lineup so it doesn’t bring in some features as seen in the Creta. Deep down, the Seltos HTX itself is quite well-equipped and for a more affordable price, it is more value for money than the Creta SX(O). In case you are looking for a petrol-AT SUV but money is your great concern, the Seltos now can make a better deal. On the contrary, go for the more decently-equipped Creta to enjoy a better feeling and experience if money is no object to you.

Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos - 1.5-litre Diesel

Creta E vs Seltos HTE

Price: Creta E- Rs 9.99 Lakh, Seltos HTE – Rs 10.34 Lakh

The 1.5-litre diesel engine good for 115 BHP/ 250 Nm come to power all trims of both Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. Now we are comparing the base variants of the two vehicles, the Creta E and Seltos HTE. In fact, both cars are almost identical when it comes to the features, save for a couple of features that one has over another.

2020 hyundai creta rear three quarters left side

We’ll point it out here. The Creta gets power tailgate while Seltos does not. The Seltos gets all wheels disc brakes while Creta makes do with the front wheels only. The “Tiger” fails to provide tyre pressuring monitoring system when the Hyundai manages to. However, Seltos compensates for that by offering UVO connectivity tech from the base variants. In this case, the Hyundai Creta is cheaper than the Seltos so it scores better in the value for money quotient than the Kia Seltos.

Creta EX vs Seltos HTK

Price: Creta EX – Rs 11.49 Lakh, Seltos HTK – Rs 11.54 Lakh

Once again, the Hyundai Creta EX stays on par with the Kia Seltos HTK when talking about the features (as for the diesel configurations). However, we head more toward the Creta SUV this time around as with cheaper price, it still manages to offer some additional bits like flat-bottom steering, cooled glovebox, power tailgate and tyre pressure monitoring system.

Creta S vs Seltos HTK+

Price: Creta S - Rs 12.77 Lakh, Seltos HTK+ - Rs 12.54 Lakh

2020 hyundai creta interior

Moving on to the mid-spec variants, the Hyundai Creta now requires a premium of Rs 25,000 over the equivalent mid-spec trim of the Seltos. Therefore, the Creta also gets an edge over the Seltos in terms of driver assistance with rear parking camera, leather gear level, driver rearview monitor, auto climate control, manual rear seat curtains, and rear defogger, etc.

Kia Seltos HTK+ endears itself with 16-inch alloy wheels, LED mood lightings, one-touch up/down for driver window and auto-folding mirrors.

Creta SX vs Seltos HTX

Price: Creta SX – Rs 14.51 Lakh, Seltos HTX Rs 14.14 Lakh

Just like the manual-petrol configurations, the Creta SX comes with chrome door handles, rear armrest with cup holder, ESC, hill-start assist, vehicle stability management. The biggest advantage of the Creta SX over the Seltos HTX is a panoramic sunroof that it brings in.

2020 Hyundai Creta SX (High-end Model) Interior First Look (Hindi) | More Premium Than Before!

Creta SX(O) vs Seltos HTX+

Price: Creta SX(O) – Rs 15.79 Lakh, Seltos HTX+  - Rs 15.34 Lakh

Kia Seltos now start to take the show over here. The Kia’s SUV adopts a range of premium features such as front parking sensors, 360-degree camera, rain-sensing wipers, UV cut glass along with power sunroof.

kia seltos interior dashboard

The Creta SX(O) diesel offers ESC, vehicle stability management, hill-start assist, rear armrest with cup holder and a panoramic sunroof over the regular one of the Seltos. As stated earlier, the Creta does not offer the SX(O) trim for the petrol-manual configuration.  And for the amount of money you have to pay, buying the Seltos turns out to be a smarter choice.

Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos – Turbo petrol engines

While retaining the same 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine from the Seltos, Hyundai has changed the transmission choices on the Creta. The power and torque figures are exactly the same in both vehicles.

While Hyundai offers paddle shifters in the Creta, but for the 7-speed DCT unit only. When comparing the DCT-equipped variants of the SUVs, the Seltos is looked to be pricier of the lot so it offers a HUD as a compensation. So do the range-topping GTX+ dual-clutch variant and the SX(O) dual-clutch variant.

The Seltos GTX+ DCT is Rs 9,000 more expensive than the Creta SX(O) DCT. The former comes with a 360-degree camera which is skipped in the Creta counterpart. But we wonder if you want to shell out about 10,000 rupees for a 360-degree camera.

 All in all, while the new design of the 2020 Hyundai Creta might be polarizing while the Seltos’s styling cues are well-received by the Indians. However, considering the after-sales network and services, Hyundai should perform better than that of Kia workshops in the immediate time.

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