Kia Carens Luxury (O) launched at Rs 17 lakh

Kia India has launched a new variant of the Carens in the Indian market. The Carens now gets a new Luxury (O) variant with a starting price of Rs 17 lakh to Rs 17.7 lakh. Kia recently launched the updated variant of the Carens with RDE-compliant engine options.

The new Kia Carens is positioned between the top two trims – the Luxury and Luxury Plus. It gets a longer feature list over the Luxury variant that includes a sunroof and ambient lighting. The ambient light changes based on the drive mode selected. The Luxury (O) is available only with the 7-seater configuration, unlike the Luxury trim which is available in a 6-seat configuration.

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The new variant also misses out on features like an 8-speaker system from Bose, paddle shifters and ventilated seats. The safety feature list includes driver and passenger airbags along with curtain airbags. The vehicle also gets ABS, ESC and hill-start assist. Disc brakes are available with all four wheels. The Carens also gets 16-inch crystal-cut alloy wheels and all seven seats get a three-point safety belt.

The new variant also gets a leather-wrapped steering wheel with tilt and telescopic adjustable. The trim also comes with cooled cupholders in front and second-row seats. Additional features include four speakers, two tweeters and five USB Type-C chargers.

Kia updated the Carens recently

The Carens MPV by Kia has received updates to its engine and transmission options. Along with revising the 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated petrol and diesel engines, Kia has also replaced the 1.4-liter turbo-petrol with a larger and more powerful 1.5-liter turbo-petrol engine. These updates were made without any official announcement from Kia.

The new powertrain options in the updated Kia Carens also come with revised transmission choices. The 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol engine is now available with both 6-speed iMT and 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissions, unlike before. There is no option for a manual gearbox with this engine. With a claimed maximum power output of 160 PS, the new turbo-petrol engine offers 20 PS more than the previous 1.4-liter turbo-petrol engine.

The 6-speed manual transmission option for the 1.5-liter diesel engine has been eliminated. Instead, the engine is now available with 6-speed iMT and 6-speed automatic transmission choices, providing a maximum power output of 116 PS – a slight increase of 1 PS from the previous model. On the other hand, the two base-level variants with the 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated petrol engine continue to be offered solely with a 6-speed manual gearbox. This engine retains its maximum power output of 115 PS and maximum torque output of 145 Nm.

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