Kia Carens unveiled: Will Rival Hyundai Alcazar

Kia has finally unveiled their fourth vehicle for the Indian market. It is a MPV and is called Carens. Kia is marketing the Carens as a recreational vehicle or RV. The prices of the Kia Carens have not yet been announced. The new MPV will go on sale in the first quarter of 2022. Kia will be manufacturing Carens at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.

One of the biggest selling points of the Carens will be its styling. It has been designed to look like a SUV rather than a MPV. Up-front, there are Y-shaped LED Daytime Running Lamps that also double up as turn indicators. There is a split LED headlamp setup.

Gone, is Kia’s typical tiger-nose grille and it has been replaced with a digital one. So, it still tries to mimic the look of the traditional grille but the grille is no longer feeding air to the engine. The bonnet is quite flat and there is also a chrome garnish that looks like a bull bar. There are LED foglamps too.

On the side, profile there are 5-spoke dual-tone alloy wheels. It gets black plastic cladding to give a rugged look. There is chrome garnish on the doors and on the window beltline that stretches till the C-pillar. All the pillars are finished in black except the C-pillar. This gives a floating roof effect to the Carens.

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At the rear, there is an aggressive-looking bumper with integrated reflectors. There is a rear spoiler, a high mounted stop lamp, shark-fin antenna and striking split LED tail lamps that are connected via a light bar which we do not know as of now, if it is functional or not.

Engine and gearbox

Kia will be offering Carens with petrol as well as a diesel engine. Both are shared with the Hyundai Alcazar, Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. The 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine comes with direct injection. It produces 140 PS of max power and 242 Nm of peak torque. The 1.5-litre diesel engine produces 115 PS of max power and 250 Nm of peak torque.

Both the engines come with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard. The petrol engine is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox whereas the diesel engine is mated to a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox.

Interior

Kia will be offering the Carens as a 6 or 7-seater. The 7-seater version will get a bench seat for the middle row whereas the 6-seater version will get two captain seats for the middle row. The interior is finished in a dual-tone colour of black and beige. The dashboard design is quite unique and modern looking.

Features

Being a Kia, Carens come with a lot of features. It gets a smart air purifier, front ventilated seats, digital instrument cluster, an electric sunroof, 64 colour ambient lighting, multi-function steering wheel, cruise control, automatic climate control, rear sunshades, spot lamps, seatback tables with cupholders and much more.

You also get a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Bose sound system. There are also front and rear parking sensors, 6 airbags as standard, an Anti-lock braking system with Electronic Brake Distribution, Traction Control, Stability Control and much more.

Rivals

Kia Carens will be competing against the Hyundai Alcazar, Mahindra XUV700, MG Hector Plus and Tata Safari.

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