Kia has officially opened bookings for the Carens in India today, with the booking amount set at Rs 25,000. Ahead of its launch sometime in February, customers can book the MPV either at Kia dealerships or on the company’s website. The Carens will be Kia’s fourth model in India and will be manufactured here for both domestic and export purposes.

• Market launch, price announcement for Carens in February
• Kia Carens to get five variants and two seating configurations
• Engine options include two petrol and one diesel

Kia Carens: what do we know so far?

The Carens will be available in five trims in India – Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury and Luxury Plus. You can read more about what features each variant offers here. The Carens will be available in both 6- and 7-seater configurations, depending on the variant.

Notably, the Carens has a wheelbase of 2,780mm, which is the longest in its class. It's also 40mm longer than the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and XL6 and 20mm longer the Hyundai Alcazar. In fact, the Carens’ wheelbase is 30mm longer than the Toyota Innova Crysta too. The Carens should, thus, be quite reasonable in terms of legroom on both the second and third rows.

Under the hood, the Carens gets the option of two petrol and one diesel engine. The first is a 115hp, 144Nm, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, which will solely be offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox. Then there’s the 140hp, 242Nm, 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that comes mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DCT gearbox.

The diesel engine is a 115hp, 250Nm, 1.5-litre unit, and Kia offers it with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. These engine-gearbox combinations are the same as the ones offered on the Seltos.

Kia Carens: expected price and rivals

Kia will be looking to position the Carens quite aggressively in the market and its price is expected to range between Rs 12 lakh for the entry-level variants to Rs 20 lakh for the top-spec diesel-AT variant. Thus, it will fill the void between the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Toyota Innova Crysta, rivalling top-spec variants of the XL6 along with the Mahindra Marazzo, Hyundai Alcazar and other 6-, 7-seater SUVs in this price range like the Tata Safari and Mahindra XUV700. 

What are your impressions on Kia's upcoming MPV for India? Let us know in the comments below.