Kia is doing some trim and price shuffling for the 2026 Seltos, but the formula is broadly the same.
As pretty much everything gets more expensive these days, small SUVs are one of the few remaining bastions of “affordable” car buying experiences. The 2026 Kia Seltos carries on in that vein, and actually drops its base price to $25,085 thanks to the addition of a front-wheel drive LX trim. In fact, FWD offerings are now available across most of the lineup for a lower price point, if you don’t necessarily want to spend the extra $1,200 for better all-weather capability. If you spring for the top-end SX, you’ll get AWD by default.
Like in previous years, the 2026 Kia Seltos lineup starts with the base LX, then moves up through the S (starting at $26,785), the EX ($27,785) and the SX ($32,785).
The X-Line trim, another all-wheel drive only model that offered up a chunkier lifestyle look to the rest of the lineup, has been dropped for the 2026 model year.
The base Seltos LX gets a standard 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. The higher-end trims from the S on up get a 10.25-inch center display instead, with Kia’s baked in navigation and voice recognition systems. On EX and SX trims, you can also get another 10.25-inch screen as your digital instrument cluster, as well as a wireless charging pad. The mid-range EX also gets new gloss black 17-inch wheels as part of the EX Sunroof Package, while the SX gets larger 18s, and LED signature lighting.
Kia’s base powertrain for the Seltos remains the 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder, putting out 147 horsepower and 132 lb-ft of torque through a continuously variable transmission. If you don’t want the CVT, you’ll have to spring for the top-of-the-line SX, which comes with a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine. The higher-end powertrain puts out 190 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque, and mates up to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
Fuel economy figures for the 2026 Kia Seltos should remain the same as before. Front-wheel drive 2.0-liter models get up to 34 mpg on the highway as well as 28 mpg in the city and 31 mpg combined. All-wheel drive takes those figures down by 1-3 mpg depending on the kind of driving (with the highway figure taking the greatest hit). If you go for the turbocharged model, you can expect 24 city / 27 highway / 25 combined mpg.
Kia did not mention exactly when the 2026 Seltos would hit dealers. However, with relatively minor updates coming down the pike, you should be able to pick one of these up in the coming weeks.
