Kia India has announced the launch of its fourth and latest 'Made-for-India' offering, the three-row recreational vehicle, Carens. The Kia Carens is aggressively priced with the Premium Smartstream 1.5 Petrol 6MT variant bearing a price tag of INR 8.99 Lakhs (ex-showroom, pan-India). 

The Kia Carens is available in five trim levels: Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus. The vehicle comes in seven-seater configurations from Premium to Luxury trims, with the Luxury Plus trim offering both 6- and 7-seater configurations. The Kia Carens is offered with three engine options: Smartstream 1.5 Petrol, Smartstream 1.4 T-GDi Petrol, and 1.5 CRDi VGT Diesel, mated with three transmissions - 6MT, 7DCT, or 6AT.

In addition to the exciting pricing, the Carens also offers maintenance cost as low as 37 paisa per kilometre. The company continues to personalise the vehicle servicing process for its customers and offer a competitive maintenance cost for all its models in the country.

Commenting on the occasion, Tae-Jin Park, Managing Director and CEO, Kia India, said, “Since inception, we have remained focused on adding value to Indian customers’ driving experiences through our ground-breaking vehicles and services. The Carens is a true Kia, offering Best in Class features, immaculate design and practicality, a wide range of variant choices at a compelling price point. The pricing offers us an opportunity to cater to an even more diverse set of our customer. We will enhance our production to meet this increased demand.”

He further added: “We are confident also that our customers will have a wonderful ownership experience of the Carens, which incurs maintenance cost starting from as low as 37 paisa per kilometre. The value proposition offered would make this a vehicle of choice for modern Indian families.”

Exterior
For the first time, the Carens’ styling introduces the "Opposites United" design language to India. The two main pillars on which Carens' exterior development was based were futuristic and bold design. It is the result of a collaboration between the Kia Design Centre in Namyang, South Korea, and the Indian design team.

Key highlights of the exterior features Kia signature tiger face with digital front grille, star map LED DRLs with crown jewel LED headlamps, star map LED tail lamps, sky light sunroof, R16 - 40.62 cm (16-inch) dual tone crystal cut alloy wheels and chrome rear bumper garnish with diamond knurling pattern.

Kia Carens is available in eight colour options with three all-new colours - Imperial Blue (New Colour), Moss Brown (New Colour), Sparkling Silver (New Colour), Intense Red, Aurora Black Pearl, Gravity Grey, Glacier White Pearl and Clear White.

Interior and Comfort
The Carens interior is sophisticated and plush, wrapped around a high-tech dashboard to appeal to the always-connected consumer. The car's interior has many storage spaces throughout the cabin, and the first-row seats are ventilated, adding to the car's convenience factor. The Carens packaging is one of the most important factors to consider and offers plenty of room for adults in the third row, thanks to the longest wheelbase in its class.

Key highlights of interior are 2nd row one-touch easy electric tumble seat, Bose premium sound system with eight speakers, smart pure air purifier with virus and bacteria protection, Kia Connect next gen connected car technology, ventilated front seats, 31.7 cm (12.5-inch) full segment LCD cluster with advanced 10.6 cm (4.2-inch) colour TFT multi-information display, cabin surround 64 colour ambient mood lighting and smartphone wireless charger with cooling function.

Powertrain and Transmission
Carens offers a surprisingly wide range of powertrain choices in its class with three engine options - Smartstream 1.5 Petrol, Smartstream 1.4 T-GDi Petrol and 1.5 CRDi VGT Diesel. These are mated to three transmission options - 6-speed manual, an intuitive 7-speed DCT and 6-speed automatic. Additionally, automatic variants of the Carens offer multi-drive modes for added convenience and driver-confidence.

Ride and Handling
The Carens is supported at the front by McPherson struts and the rear by a coupled torsion beam axle setup. With disc brakes all around and across the board, the ride quality has been tuned to absorb everything in its path, providing a comfortable driving experience for all. Carens prototypes have been driven and tested for over 1,00,000 kilometres on Indian roads, and across a variety of conditions, resulting in a driving character that offers a compliant ride quality and high comfort.

Safety
The Kia Carens is a true family car, offering several active safety features. The model comes with Robust 10 Hi-Secure Safety Standard Package, a first in India. Included as standard across all trims of the Carens are 6 airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), Hill-Assist Control (HAC), Downhill Brake Control (DBC), Brake Assist System (BAS), Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Rear Parking Sensors, Highline TPMS and All-Wheel Disc Brakes. While the ESC protects the car from the loss of traction, HAC and DBC let drivers confidently drive on uphill and downhill roads. Additionally, the VSM ensures occupant safety by offering stability to the car when the driver must perform sudden braking and turns. Continuing this focus on safety, the company has also offered Front-Parking Sensors, Highline TPMS, and Rain-Sensing Wipers with the car, giving utmost confidence to the driver at all times and allowing them to fully focus on road conditions ahead.

Kia Connect
With Carens, the connected car platform gets a complete revamp with the next-generation Kia Connect app, which replaces the previous UVO system. Kia Connect now hosts updated and exciting features with added safety and convenience. One of the major updates with Kia Connect is the enhancement of OTA (Over the Air) Map and System Updates, which is now capable of updating software without visiting the Kia workshop. The Carens will come equipped with 66 connected car features and what is more exciting is that the AVNT of the vehicle now supports ten native languages.

My Convenience Plus
Along with the launch of the Carens, Kia India also announced the launch of the Carens ownership differentiator: 'My Convenience Plus'. The initiative offers comprehensive coverage for new Carens buyers that provide them complete peace of mind.

'My Convenience Plus' is a Carens-exclusive aftersales initiative that can be purchased alongside the vehicle and includes PPM (Pre-Paid Maintenance), EW (Extended Warranty), and optional RSA (Road Side Assistance). It is available with pan India coverage and uniform pricing across the country. The customers can choose from Premium and Luxury package, which cov9ers the car for 4 and 5 years respectively. The initiative also offers an attractive package on car care services, if availed during the program tenure, and protects the customers from inflation in service cost.

My Kia
With the vision to offer convenience to its customers, the company also launched the ‘My Kia’ mobile app – a one-stop solution for existing and prospective customers for all their needs related to Kia. ‘My Kia’ app is available on iOS and Android platforms wherein prospective customers can request test-drive, video consultation and can even book their preferred Kia car. The existing customers of Kia can use this app for service appointment and reminder, request pick and drop and track service progress, etc. Customer can also get real-time notifications, tips and FAQs for direct assistance from Kia through a unique customer dashboard. The app also offers a unique and exclusive reward program for existing customers, offering exclusive discounts on various consumer brands across different categories like Fashion, Travel, F&B, Electronics, and Lifestyle etc.

Fuel Efficiency:
G1.5 with 6MT: 15.7 kmpl
G1.4T with 6MT: 16.2 kmpl
G1.4T with 7DCT: 16.5 kmpl
D1.5 with 6MT: 21.3 kmpl
D1.5 with 6AT: 18.4 kmpl
*The above are ARAI-ratified figures. Real world figures are expected to be lower.