Kia Carens bookings will be open from tomorrow

While the Carens shares its platform with the Alcazar, there are quite a few differences between the two cars, including a petrol engine.

Kia will start accepting bookings for its upcoming MPV Carens from tomorrow onwards. You can make a booking for a token amount of Rs 25,000, either online or at one of Kia’s dealerships. The Carens will be available in five variants – Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus.

As far as powertrains are concerned, you can choose between a petrol and a diesel engine. The petrol motor is a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol unit, which you also find in the Seltos. It makes 138bhp and 242Nm and can be had with a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The diesel engine is also the same as Seltos, i.e., a 1.5-litre unit, which makes 113bhp and 250Nm. It too gets the option of a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed auto.

The Carens will offer 10 safety features as standard across all variants, which includes six airbags. Apart from that, it will be similarly specced as the Seltos. This means that you’ll get a 10.25-inch touchscreen, a Bose sound system, wireless smartphone charging, and even an air purifier. There will be other bits as well, like cooled cupholders, 64-colour ambient lighting, and electric tumble-assist for the second row.

Coming to the colours, you will have a choice between 8 different options – Clear White, Glacier White Pearl, Gravity Grey, Aurora Black Pearl, Intense Red, Sparkling Silver (New), Moss Brown (New), and Imperial Blue (New).

While bookings for the Carens will open in January, the launch of the MPV is expected to take place sometime in February. It will rival its platform sibling, the Hyundai Alcazar, along with other SUVs like the MG Hector Plus, Tata Safari, and Mahindra XUV700.