You Can Help Christen Kia’s First Indian SUV

Kia is set to start its Indian innings in 2019 with an all-new made-in-India, made-for-India SUV. Previewed as the SP Concept back at the Auto Expo 2018, this SUV will lead the company’s onslaught in the Indian market. In a unique initiative, Kia has decided to let the people name its first product in India and of the many entries it received, four have been finalised:

- Tusker
- Trazor
- SP-Z
- Trailster

Kia is again seeking crowdsourcing to finalise the name with Indian nationals invited to choose one among the aforementioned four. As you this story, ‘Trazor’ leads the race over ‘Tusker’, but these are early stages. The voting process will be open for all till 20 June 2018. The person who coined the winning name will receive one of the first units of the Kia SUV when it is launched in 2019. Some of the voters will also be eligible to win unspecified Kia merchandise.

Kia’s first SUV will be positioned in the same price bracket as the Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki S-Cross, Renault Captur, and others. The Kia Trazor/Tusker is expected to not be too different from the SP Concept in terms of design. The Kia signature ‘Tiger Nose’ grille, slim headlights, staggered front lights, squarish fascia and the dual-tone colour scheme are expected to make it to the production version. The all-LED lights, including the roof-mounted LED light bar may not make it to production, though Kia is known to be a disruptor in other markets and might just do that.

The Kia Trazor/Tusker will be manufactured at Kia’s all-new plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and will soon be joined by another compact SUV built to compete against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Kia’s plant will have an annual production capacity of 3 lakh units when operational. The company may look at bringing some models from its international lineup if it sees the demand for them in India.