I would have recommended the Hyundai Creta E a few months ago. It’s the base variant of India’s most-selling SUV, and the brand’s familiarity alone felt like a safety net. But then I sat down and actually compared it — spec by spec, feature by feature — against the Kia Seltos HTE, which costs just Rs. 20,000 more (ex-showroom). And what I found made me push the Creta brochure to the other side of the table.
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The Creta E Has No Touchscreen
I don’t mean a small touchscreen. I mean the Hyundai Creta E — in 2026 — ships without any touchscreen infotainment system. The dashboard has a gaping void where a screen should be, like a phone with no display. You get steering-mounted controls that control… nothing connected to anything.
The Seltos HTE, meanwhile, gives you a proper touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. On day one, plug in your phone once and then never again. Navigation, Spotify, WhatsApp calls — it just works. Whether you’re stuck in traffic or trying to find an alternative route, the Creta E driver next to you is probably squinting at a phone screen.
- Aftermarket touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay: Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000
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Seltos Is Bigger Than Creta — In Ways That Matter
The Seltos is 130mm longer than the Creta (4,460mm vs 4,330mm) and rides on a wheelbase that’s 80mm longer. I know that sounds like trivia until you’re a 6-footer trying to sit behind someone of similar height in the rear seat. In the Seltos, you can actually breathe.
The boot is also larger — 447 litres versus 433 litres in the Creta. That’s the difference between fitting everyone’s cabin bags for a trip to Goa or playing Tetris with luggage while your mother-in-law judges your car choice from the footpath.
- Can’t increase space with an aftermarket upgrade!
190 mm vs. 200 mm Ground Clearance
The Seltos HTE sits 10mm higher than the Creta E — 200 mm versus 190 mm. Ten millimetres sounds trivial until you’re navigating a waterlogged street in Jaipur’s monsoon season or scraping over the speed breaker outside your housing society that was clearly designed by someone who hates cars. The Seltos just clears things; the Creta will graze.
Rear Disc Brakes
The Seltos HTE gets all-wheel disc brakes. The Creta E has drum brakes at the rear — a technology that was already starting to feel outdated when people were still buying DVDs. Disc brakes dissipate heat faster and respond more consistently under repeated braking, which is precisely what city driving demands.
Every time you brake hard to avoid someone jumping a signal, you want discs doing that work. It’s not just about safety in theory — it’s about confidence in practice, every single day.
Keyless Entry And A Rearview Camera
The Seltos HTE comes with a keyless entry request sensor, so you can walk up to the car with your keys in your pocket, and it will unlock. It also has a rear camera with guidelines as standard. The Creta E offers neither of these in its base variant. Reversing without a camera in dense urban parking lots is the kind of experience that takes years off your life — and paint off your bumper.
- Aftermarket rearview camera: Around Rs. 2,000; often included with the touchscreen infotainment system
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Cruise Control
The Seltos HTE’s steering wheel has cruise control buttons integrated into it — standard, not an add-on. This is useful on highway stretches between cities more than people expect, and the Creta E simply doesn’t offer it in the base trim. Once you’ve driven with cruise control on a national highway, going back feels like giving up a microwave to cook over wood.
- Aftermarket cruise control: Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 5,000
The Seltos HTE Wins Over Creta E, Fair & Square
Brand loyalty and segment dominance have done a lot of heavy lifting for Hyundai here. The Creta sells in enormous volumes every month, and the E variant exists to give the nameplate an aggressive entry price. But when you actually use that ₹20,000 price difference as the deciding factor and get significantly less car in return, it starts to feel like a bad trade.
For ₹20,000 more, the Seltos HTE gives you a touchscreen, a larger cabin, higher ground clearance, all-wheel disc brakes, keyless entry, a rear camera, cruise control, and LED taillights. That’s not a marginal upgrade — that’s a fundamentally more equipped car.
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