Kia Carens: Launched! Starting price Rs 8.99 lakh; to compete with Maruti Suzuki XL6, Hyundai Alcazar, Mahindra XUV700 and Tata Safari

Automaker Kia India on Tuesday launched its fourth product -- Carens -- in the domestic market, with the introductory price ranging between Rs 8.99 lakh and Rs 16.99 lakh (ex-showroom).

The three-row model featuring six and seven seating options, which the company refers to as a recreational vehicle (RV), competes with the likes of Maruti Suzuki XL6, Hyundai Alcazar, Mahindra XUV700 and Tata Motors Safari.

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Kia India already sells Seltos, Sonet, and Carnival in the domestic market.

The Kia Carens comes powered by a 1.5 petrol, 1.4 litre petrol, and 1.5 diesel powertrains mated with three transmissions - 6MT, 7DCT, or 6AT.

The petrol versions of the model are priced between Rs 8.99 lakh and Rs 16.99 lakh, while the diesel trims are tagged between Rs 10.99 lakh and Rs 16.99 lakh.

The company claims a fuel efficiency of 16.5 km per litre on the petrol variants and 21.3 km per litre with diesel trims.

"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 customers," Kia India MD and CEO Tae-Jin Park stated during the online launch event.

He further said: "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 company plans to enhance its production to meet this increased demand, Park stated.

Kia India Vice-President and Head (Sales and Marketing) Hardeep Singh Brar said that the company is looking to initiate a third shift at its Andhra Pradesh-based facility to reduce the waiting period of Carens and other models.

The automaker has already received over 19,089 bookings for Carens so far, after initiating bookings last month.

The Carens also comes equipped with flexible seating options, and features such as the sliding type seat undertray, retractable seat back table, the rear door spot lamp, and the bottle and gadget holder in the third row. Besides various convenience elements, the model comes with 66 connected features.

Safety features include six airbags as standard across all trims, electronic stability control (ESC), vehicle stability management (VSM), hill-assist control (HAC), downhill brake control (DBC), and all-wheel disc brakes.