Kia’s fourth product for the Indian market, the Carens, made its global debut last month
Official bookings for the SUV styled MPV opened from 14th January’22. Some dealers had already been taking in token amounts in lieu of unofficial bookings. Kia is getting itself ready to launch the vehicle sometime towards the second half of the current month.
Ahead of official launch and price reveal of Kia Carens, the company has revealed that on Day 1 they have recorded bookings of 7,738 units. This is one of the highest booking numbers received by an MPV in 1 day.
Kia Carens Road Testing
In terms of looks, the Carens is a typical MPV but it dons SUV styling. At the front, we get to see a split LED headlamp assembly, LED fog lamps and a grille with chrome and gloss black components.
Interestingly, the design looks refreshingly new but thankfully, not too loud. The side profile gives it a complete MPV look, however the plastic cladding and pseudo roof-rails add to its SUV quotient. Undisguised test mule of Kia Carens white colour was spied by Rahul Katyal.
The rear profile is dominated by the 2 wrap-around LED tail-lamps which are connected with each other via a slim LED strip. The MPV also gets an integrated spoiler, considerable amount of chrome and an aggressively styled bumper, all of which add to its unique look.
Kia Carens Interiors Feature List
On the inside, the Carens will be getting a ton of features and equipment. These would include a 10.25 inch touchscreen infotainment unit which will be compatible with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Kia’s UVO connect, an all digital instrument cluster.
It also gets ventilated front seats, 64-color ambient lighting, an 8-speaker Bose sound system, sunroof, seat-back tables with cup holders, electrically powered 1-touch tumble down feature for the second row of seats and much more. Safety pack would comprise of ABS, ESC, 4-disc brakes, hill start assist, rear parking sensors, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and 6 airbags.
Powertrain
Carens’ powertrain options will be a replica of the ones available on the Seltos. Hence, customers will have the option to choose amongst 2 petrol and 1 diesel engine options. Petrol units would include a 1.5 litre naturally aspirated 4 cylinder motor which would be capable of dishing out 115 hp and 144 Nm of max torque.
Additionally, there will be a more powerful 1.4 litre turbo petrol engine which will be able to dish out 140 hp and 242 Nm of peak torque. Both the engines will get 6-speed Manual Transmissions while the turbo-motor will also be getting a 7-speed DCT option.
The diesel motor will be a 1.5 litre turbo charged 4 cylinder unit which will be able to produce 115 hp and 250 Nm of max torque. Transmission options will include a 6-speed manual gearbox and a 6-speed torque converter unit.
Pricing and Competition
Pricing of the Carens is still under wraps and hence it is difficult to accurately predict its direct rivals. However, based upon the unveil, it is safe to presume that the New Kia MPV will be positioned above Maruti’s XL6. Most probably it will land up becoming a direct rival to the likes of Hyundai Alcazar and other mid sized SUV like XUV700, Hector Plus, Safari.
