Kia Carens will compete with Hyundai Alcazar, Toyota Innova, Mahindra Marazzo, Maruti XL6 in the 6 / 7 seater SUV / MPV segment
Carens is the fourth product from Kia in India. It made its global debut earlier this week, with a launch date set for some time in Jan 2022. It has been one of the highly anticipated products with spy shots stirring up excitement as have other cars from Kia India in the past. New spy shots show the top of the line DCT automatic Kia Carens with a sunroof. Spy shots are credited to automotive enthusiast Soumithra via Rushlane Spylane.
Kia Carens enters a highly competitive and much in demand segment. It will be offered in a 3 row, 6 and 7 seater layout. Details of its exterior makeup, interior arrangement and engine specifications get detailed. Production will take place at the Kia plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
Kia Carens Dimensions and Features
Positioned between Seltos and Carnival in the company’s line-up, the Kia Carens will be offered in HTP, HTM, LX, EX, TX, Premium, Prestige and Luxury variants. It gets a class leading 2,780mm long wheelbase and stands 4,540 mm in length, 1,800 mm in width and 1,700mm in height with ground clearance at 195 mm. These dimensions ensure that it commands a spacious cabin.
Carens comes in with the company’s new design philosophy ‘Opposites United’ in India. It sports a signature Tiger Face design upfront, with chunky bumpers at the front and rear. The flat front bonnet sees a slim grille, LED headlamps and Y shaped DRLs. It also receives sculpted door panels, body coloured ORVMs and turn indicators along with chrome finished door handles, blacked out A, B and C pillars and dual tone alloy wheels.
Kia Carens sporty stance is enhanced by roof rails and thick body cladding while at the rear, it gets T shaped wrap around LED lamps connected by a sleek LED strip. The rear door is also longer allowing for easy ingress and egress to its third row seats.
Interiors of Kia Carens are both spacious and feature packed. The cabin boasts of an ergonomic design with captain seats for the second row in case of the 6 seater variant and with bench seat for its 7 seater counterpart. Top spec variants come in with a 10.25 inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay while lower trims get an 8 inch infotainment system.
Connected car features via UVO connected suite offers features such as stolen vehicle tracking and immobilization, geo-fence alert, remote access, AI assisted voice commands, find my car, vehicle health report, maintenance updates, etc.
It also gets 64 colour ambient lighting, an 8 speaker Bose sound system along with multi-function steering wheel with buttons for audio controls, voice commands and calling, as is also seen on both the Seltos and Sonet. Safety equipment includes a 360 degree camera, 6 airbags, rear parking sensors, ABS, EBD and ESC. Hill start assist, disc brakes and TPMS is offered as standard across all variants of the Kia Carens.
Kia Carens Engine Specs
Kia Carens shares its engine specifications with the Seltos. This includes two petrol and one diesel engine option. The 1.5 liter, 4 cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine offers 115 hp power and 144 Nm torque. The 1.4 liter, 4 cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine makes 140 hp power and 242 Nm torque while the lone 1.5 liter, 4 cylinder diesel engine is capable of 115 hp power and 250 Nm torque.
Kia Carens petrol engines come with either a 6 speed manual, 6 speed iMT, CVT or 7 speed DCT automatic gearbox options. Kia Carens diesel engine will be mated to either a 6 speed manual or 6 speed torque convertor automatic gearbox.
No indications on price have been revealed as on date but estimates put the new Carens in a Rs 15-20 lakh price range. Once launched in early 2022, Carens will find itself competing with Maruti Suzuki XL6, Hyundai Alcazar and Mahindra Marazzo and also with Toyota Innova Crysta, MG Hector, Mahindra XUV700 and Tata Safari.
