Kia’s Fourth Offering, The Carens, Arrives In India At Rs 8.99 Lakh As A Sleek People Mover

• Debuts Kia’s ‘Opposites United’ design language in India with a sleek ‘Tiger Nose’ grille, swanky LED DRLs, swirly 16-inch alloy wheels and rugged body cladding.

• Packed features included a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment, electric sunroof, 64-colour ambient lighting, and segment-first electronic tumble for the second row.

• Safety kit includes six airbags, hill descent control, all-wheel disc brakes, and ESC.

• Can be specced with 1.5-litre petrol, 1.4-litre turbo-petrol, and 1.5-litre diesel engines with manual and automatic gearbox options. 

After a long trail of breadcrumbs that included teasers, and a unveil, Kia’s fourth offering for India has officially gone on sale. Called the Carens, it's a three-row MPV with introductory prices ranging from  Rs 8.99 lakh to Rs 16.99 lakh (ex-showroom, India). Kia’s new people mover comes in five trims: Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus, across six- and seven-seater layouts. While a 7-seater layout is standard on all trims, the 6-seater setup with captain seats is limited to the top-spec Luxury Plus. 

What makes the Carens stand out from its three siblings, the Seltos, Carnival, and Sonet is that it's the first Kia in India to use the ‘Opposites United’ design language. By that we mean a sleek ‘Tiger Nose’ front grille, LED headlamps with a cool design for the LED DRLs, rugged body cladding, swanky dual-tone 16-inch alloy wheels, and connected LED tail lamps. You get eight colour options to choose from which includes, Imperial Blue, Moss Brown, Sparkling Silver, Intense Red, Aurora Black Pearl, Gravity Grey, Glacier White Pearl, and Clear White.

The Carens’ funk factor doesn’t end in exterior design. In fact, it carries over to the cabin as well with a wraparound dashboard with trim elements that extend to the doors. It’s loaded with features that include a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a Bose sound system, connected car tech, a digitised driver’s display, 64-colour ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, an electric sunroof and segment-first electronic tumble for the second row. 

Passenger safety is covered by six airbags, all-wheel disc brakes, electronic stability control, tyre pressure monitoring system, and hill descent control. Kia themselves are aiming to have the Carens capable of a four-star Global NCAP safety rating  as per a leaked document.

You’re left spoilt for choice when it comes to what you can plonk under the hood of Kia’s new people-mover. You get a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol, and a 1.5-litre diesel engine to play with. While a 6-speed manual gearbox is standard on all three engines, the turbo-petrol mill can be specced with a 7-speed DCT, while the diesel motor has the option of a 6-speed torque converter. We’ve also had our first taste of the Kia Carens in our first drive review.

Here’s how the three engine specifications play out:

Such has been the demand for the Kia Carens that the MPV already amassed 19,089 bookings. With this launch, the Carens will be taking on the likes of the Maruti Suzuki XL6, Mahindra Marazzo, as well as select variants of the Hyundai Alcazar, Tata Safari, MG Hector Plus, and Mahindra XUV700.