Kia Seltos 2020: First look at tech-rich cabin and advanced safety suite for all-new SUV

Kia’s much-anticipated small SUV offering, the Seltos, has had its first official round of interior pictures released via Kia’s Korean website.

Read More About Kia Seltos

CarsGuide put the Kia Seltos 2020 to the test.

The official pics show a slick, tech-focused cabin, with a slick new 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen, gloss-finish climate controls and the availability of plush leather trims on the top-spec models.

Although the images are for Korean-spec, left-hand-drive vehicles, it gives Australian buyers their first true idea of what to expect when the Seltos arrives Down Under in October.

The massive gloss-finish 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen is new to Kia's lineup.

High-spec vehicles will get leather trim across the doorcards, centre console and dash, as well as a leather-bound steering wheel and premium Bose audio system.

While there’s no digital dash, the Seltos is offered in its home market with a head-up display and Qi wireless phone charging bay.

Other upmarket features revealed include heated seating for both the front and rear rows, as well as air vents and a USB outlet for occupants in the rear seats – refinements that not every small SUV has.

Rear interior vents are a luxury not every small SUV has.

Also revealed on the Korean site are the safety features the Seltos will be capable of supporting. The Korean version of the car is offered with auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning (likely with lane keep assist, as the Sportage offers this feature), driver attention alert (DAA), blind-spot monitoring (BSM), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), and active cruise control.

And the good news for local buyers is that almost all of those luxury features are expected to make their way into Australian-delivered cars, as will the vast majority of the just-revealed safety technology.

The Seltos will also be capable of supporting a thorough set of active safety items.

Some will only appear on more expensive versions, of course, with the Seltos expected to mirror other Kia models in arriving in between three and four trim levels.

It has previously been confirmed that the Seltos will be sized to compete with the Toyota C-HR and Nissan Qashqai, with a 10mm longer wheelbase than the Hyundai Kona with which it shares a platform. The Seltos measures 4315mm in length, 1800mm in width and 1620mm in height, and rides on a 2610mm wheelbase.

Rear heated seats are unusual in the small SUV category.

The Seltos will be offered with either a 2.0-litre non-turbo mated to a continuously variable tranmssion, or a 1.6-litre turbo mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic in Australia. At least one variant will be all-wheel drive.

Although cars destined for Australia will be built in Korea, the Seltos will receive a localised suspension tune prior to its late 2019 launch.

Stay tuned for local pricing and spec in the coming months.

What do you think of the Seltos’ interior? Share your thoughts in the comments below.