New Kia Seltos safety features: model-by-model specs
The second-generation Kia Seltos has officially landed on South African soil, bringing a stiffer K3 platform, fresh styling, and a cabin overhaul. More importantly, Kia hasn't skimped on the safety kit, offering everything from essential passive safety features on entry models to full semi-autonomous radar tech at the top of the range.
Here is a clear, trim-by-trim breakdown of the safety features across all five local Seltos models: LS, LX, GT-Line, GT-Line S, and X-Line.
The Kia Seltos GT-Line in Century City, Cape Town.
Standard safety baseline across the board
Regardless of the grade or engine choice, every new Kia Seltos leaves the dealership floor with a solid foundation of passive and active safety equipment:
- Six airbags: Dual front, front side (thorax), and full-length curtain airbags.
- Body construction: Ultra-high-strength steel structure built on the new K3 platform for improved cabin rigidity.
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC): Corrects loss of traction and skidding.
- Anti-lock Braking System (ABS): Prevents wheel lockup under hard braking.
- Hill Start Assist Control (HAC): Prevents rollback on steep inclines
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS): Alerts the driver to pressure drops in real time.
- Rear-view camera & ISOFIX: Reversing camera with dynamic guidelines.
- Micro-dot security: Data Dot marking fitted as standard to deter theft.
- Isofix child seat anchorage points on the outer rear seats.
(Buying used? Read our Karoo Road-Trip Review in the diesel Kia Seltos)
The Seltos is one of the most impressive compact SUVs we've driven in a long time.
1. Kia Seltos LS
- Safety baseline: Includes the full standard suite (6 airbags, ESC, ABS, HAC, DBC, TPMS, rear camera, and ISOFIX).
- Parking aid: Rear Park Distance Warning (rear ultrasonic sensors).
- Braking: Mechanical handbrake or Electric Parking Brake with Auto Hold (dependent on transmission).
2. Kia Seltos LX
- Upgraded parking assistance: Adds front Park Distance Warning to the existing rear sensors.
- Speed management: Adds Manual Speed Limit Assist.
- Braking convenience: Electric Parking Brake with Auto Hold fitted as standard.
3. Kia Seltos GT-Line
- Driver vision: Adds rain-sensing windscreen wipers.
- Night-time safety: Electrochromic (auto-dimming) rear-view mirror to reduce headlight glare from trailing traffic.
- Sensors: Retains the complete front and rear Park Distance Warning system.
The X-Line model gets a matte Graphite Grey paint job.
4. Kia Seltos GT-Line S & X-Line
The range-topping GT-Line S (1.5 T-GDi turbopetrol) and X-Line (1.5 CRDi turbodiesel) introduce Kia's complete Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) suite:
- Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA): Scans for vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists ahead and applies automatic braking if a crash risk is detected.
- Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go: Adaptive cruise control that maintains distance from the car ahead and can bring the Seltos to a complete halt in traffic before pulling away automatically.
- Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (Rear): Monitors rear blind spots and actively intervenes if you attempt to change lanes into approaching traffic.
- Lane Keeping Assist (LKA): Provides subtle steering feedback if you drift out of your lane without indicating.
- Lane Following Assist (LFA): Actively centres the car within lane markings during open-road or highway driving.
We drove the top-spec GT Line S model on launch.
Model pricing summary
- Seltos 1.5 LS Manual: R389 995
- Seltos 1.5 LS CVT: R414 995
- Seltos 1.5 LX CVT: R464 995
- Seltos 1.5 GT-Line CVT: R514 995
- Seltos 1.5 CRDi GT-Line Automatic: R544 995
- Seltos 1.5 T-GDi GT-Line S DCT: R614 995
- Seltos 1.5 CRDi X-Line Automatic: R614 995
(Thinking of buying a first-generation, pre-facelift Seltos? Read our 1.4 GT Line review here.)
