The Kia Carens bridges the gap between the Kia Seltos and the flagship Kia Carnival. The three-row MPV offers a practical and feature-laden cabin, multiple powertrain options, and two seating layouts. While you can read our detailed review here or watch the video below, here we bring you detailed images from our review.
While looks can be subjective, Kia India has done an impressive job by giving the Carens a distinct and unique exterior styling. The front fascia, despite its busy looks appeals with the split headlamp setup, a horizontal chrome stripe across the textured front grille, and three-pod LED fog lamps that are positioned down on the front bumper.
Towards the side, the Carens is fitted with 16-inch dual-tone alloy wheels, chrome door handles, and plastic cladding around the wheel arches. The posterior looks appealing with split boomerang-shaped tail lamps, a protruding roof spoiler, and chrome garnish on the rear bumper.
Talking about the cabin, Kia has ditched the free-standing layout of the dashboard and equipped the Carens with an integrated 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a fully-digital instrument console, 64-colour ambient lighting, an air purifier, front ventilated seats, and a wireless smartphone charger.
The Carens can be had in both six and seven-seat layouts. Both the versions get the electric tumble function on the left side seat for easy access to the third row. Additionally, the seats can be adjusted for fore and aft movement along with a recline function for the backrest. The Carens also gets a single-pane electric sunroof, retractable tray, and four roof-mounted aircon vents.
The third row can accommodate two passengers and can be adjusted for different recline angles. The occupants further benefit from two USB Type-C charging ports and cupholders.
Another highlight of the Carens are the standard safety features on offer. All the versions of the MPV are loaded with six airbags, ABS, rear parking sensors, a tyre pressure monitoring system, downhill brake control, ESC, and disc brakes on all four wheels.
As far as the powertrains are concerned, the Carens is offered in multiple powertrain and gearbox options. This includes 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine, 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine, and 1.5-litre diesel engine. The transmission options are to include a six-speed manual, seven-speed DCT, and six-speed automatic transmission.
Photography: Kapil Angane