Kia teases new Seltos before its world premiere

Earlier this year, Kia began teasing a compact SUV with nothing but design sketches and badge images. On Friday, however – just a week before the vehicle's world premiere – the company published a 23-second sneak peek video of the model revealing nearly the entire exterior.

As compact SUVs and crossovers gain traction in the automotive industry, new models are being launched left and right as demand for vehicles in the segment continues to rise worldwide. Already this year, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Ford, Lamborghini, Audi, Hyundai, and Genesis announced compact SUV models and, this week, Kia will launch its own as well.

Images of the Seltos in sketch form were published weeks ago, but on Friday, Kia unveiled nearly the entire exterior of the model in a 23-second video. The SUV is expected to slide in the lineup beside the Soul – the headlights and grille take obvious design cues from the model.

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As for the rest of the exterior, the Seltos has sleeker contours than the Soul, which likely improve the model's aerodynamics as with the Sorento. In fact, it's allegedly the production version of the SP Signature concept that was unveiled in Seoul in March, a model that was designed for tech-oriented millennials.

Based on previous teasers provided by Kia, the inside will feature a panoramic dash with a 10.25-inch touchscreen.

The world premiere of the Kia Seltos will take place this week on June 20.