[DebarshiSharma]

Wow finally the wait is over.. What a looker!!!

Somehow looking at the overall vehicle / the feature list, I believe Kia is not planning on positioning it at a high premium similar to Alcazar. I can see 360 degree camera to be suspiciously missing from the feature list even though Seltos has it, moreover a panoramic sunroof would have been amazing in this recreational vehicle .

I will be glad if the product is placed rightly in between Innova & Ertiga with some sort of a agressive pricing looking at the engine / transmission options. The standard safety features though are a God send to this segment. I really appreciate Kia that they are finally focusing on safety.

[Venkatesh]

Kia Carens comes with the roof mounted air vents, there's no possibility of Panoramic sunroof.

A regular one like the Seltos

[TorqueMonster]

The features look good, but that is one ugly car. The sides look disproportionate, and the front of the car looks like the beings from the movie Predator.


I don't know why but the face of the car just seems weird. The vehicle could have easily be styled better IMO.

This looks less like a Kia and more like the Ssangyongs from the early 2000's.

[anb]

The interiors looks fantastic, but the exterior looks weird. The rear reminds me of Honda BRV. Looks like 1.5 NA engine will compete with Ertiga and turbo engines will compete with Alcazar. Panoramic Sunroof is a big miss in a seven seater MPV.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by TorqueMonster

The features look good, but that is one ugly car. The sides look disproportionate, and the front of the car looks like the beings from the movie Predator.

Attachment 2245892
I don't know why but the face of the car just seems weird. The vehicle could have easily be styled better IMO.

This looks less like a Kia and more like the Ssangyongs from the early 2000's.

Well I was wondering where I had seen this face and what it reminded me of
I am also not a fan of this design language which the latest Hyundai and Kia are following.
In terms of stance this car looks very close to the Honda BRV.

[TT-S]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

I wonder what the 1.5L NA Petrol will feel like in the Kia Carens!

I guess this engine will be available only in the base variants at a cheaper entry price compared to what the competition offers.

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

6 airbags are good as standard.

They may be trying to offset the poor perception of safety on the Seltos, upon which Carens is based on.

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

For this sized car, will 1.4L Petrol engine be sufficient?

Should be much better than the 1.5 NA variant any day.

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Well I was wondering where I had seen this face and what it reminded me of
I am also not a fan of this design language which the latest Hyundai and Kia are following.
In terms of stance this car looks very close to the Honda BRV.

Seems like Koreans are adapting their roots by going for Ninja / warrior style wardrobe/war gears designs, either you refer to Creta or new i20 or Verna available in India or refer to Tucson being sold abroad. Out of all cars, Seltos (now 3+ years old design) is the only one which has very good global design (most liekly Kia will spoil it in next facelift).

[JacksonStorm]

The alloy wheel design looks similar to MG Astor IMHO.



Overall good packages but misses out some features/powertrain compare to
alcazar vice versa.
Price is the key element if Kia sets prices rightly then another hit story from KIA.

[amol4184]

More than anything else, this reminds me of XL6 including disproportionately small wheels.

I was expecting it to be in line with Seltos just the way Alcazar is so close to Creta but this car looks way different than Seltos. Not sure if that is a good thing.

[anu21v]

I was waiting with baited breath for this car, but CARENS definitely disappoints me. I was panning to book Carens on day 1 itself to avoid the rush, but looking at the front fascia, rear looks, and even side profile; it is better for me to wait for 6-8 months for Alcazar, Seltos, XUV700 et al.

I was a 7 seater customer, but i see no sign of 7 seater and only 6 seater was on anvil for launch. The designers it seems have taken up competition with ertiga literally and made it too similar to ertiga. To me even XL6 looks overall better than Carens.

The only saving grace for this offering is the availability of that 1499 cc oil burner which is missing in Maruti lineup.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Lets relax all. This car has not been tested yet. Some of the more "touted" cars on the safety front havent been tested either. There is no regulation in this world that says that only 4/5 star rated cars are street-legal, in fact NCAP is not even a regulatory body. On the other hand, this car (and Yaris earlier) has made strides in at least improving the standard list of safety equipment and setting a new benchmark in that area. So lets give credit where its due instead of being in a utopian state. Otherwise create a campaign to make 5-star GNCAP rating with front, side and rollover tests as the minimum safety standard. I will bet this wont happen in our country or any other country.

This is where we car enthusiasts differ from the general public out there.
I am talking ONLY to the Indian standards here (not comparing to any other market at all).

While I totally second your point of Kia, striding ahead with a long list of safety features, I beg to differ in two areas here
1. I don't think that there is any "benchmark" set here by the Korean twins in terms of safety. (Tata, M&M, Ford, VAG twins can be said so).
2. We as car enthusiasts know that, in terms of safety, (or safeness of a car) structural rigidity and build quality are what matter more than all these lengthy feature lists. These features are more like add-ons only.

When the Seltos (I don't think Sonet is any different and no comments on Carnival), has a very poor structural strength, Carens I doubt will be any different.

[Mafia]

Disproportionate wheel size is a sad reality of the auto sector in India. Many vehicles are victims of this. Even the mighty Thar in the previous iteration was. Corrected in the current one. The Innova too is small wheeled in the lower models.

The front end looks like Kia Soul. Probably share the same platform too. Apologies if I have missed that in the discussion.

From a pricing perspective, this will surely sit above the XL6 by a good 10% for base models and move up. This looks like a winner. If Suzuki can sell XL6, this is anytime better looking.

[GRAND23]

Originally Posted by anu21v

I was waiting with baited breath for this car, but CARENS definitely disappoints me. I was panning to book Carens on day 1 itself to avoid the rush, but looking at the front fascia, rear looks, and even side profile; it is better for me to wait for 6-8 months for Alcazar, Seltos, XUV700 et al.

I was a 7 seater customer, but i see no sign of 7 seater and only 6 seater was on anvil for launch. The designers it seems have taken up competition with ertiga literally and made it too similar to ertiga. To me even XL6 looks overall better than Carens.

Well, looks are subjective and I would suggest you to wait until you see the car in person and drive it. Let us keep a looks aside, there are some positives from this car. From pictures, it is very clear that Carens is not wide car instead it is much like Honda BRV or Kia Sonet in terms of width. This means less wider car is boon in the city traffic. Added automatic to your comfort it will make things more easy. My pick would be diesel AT combination (although I am not buying any new car now). I am not sure about boot space and other interior space, but family who travels lot within city and highways, Carens really makes sense. The 1.5 engines are easy to maintain and pocket friendly. Well driven diesel engines might fetch good mileage too.

I respect other competition cars too such as XL6, Morazzo and so on. But Kia has one advantage which competition do not have and that is Diesel+AT.

For customers who prefer higher torque and power, they will anyway go for XUV7OO, Harrier, Safari and so on.

I am guessing that upcoming Scorpio base variant might get overlap with Kia Carens and eat up most of the sales. Let's wait and watch.

[Venkatesh]

The Kia Carens is a huge departure from its minivan predecessor with bold styling in line with Kia’s latest design language called Opposites United.

Coming soon TVC

https://youtu.be/XAxCBaRzZ5k

Exterior walkaround

https://youtu.be/Wm8s0KbriNE

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

This is where we car enthusiasts differ from the general public out there.
I am talking ONLY to the Indian standards here (not comparing to any other market at all).

While I totally second your point of Kia, striding ahead with a long list of safety features, I beg to differ in two areas here
1. I don't think that there is any "benchmark" set here by the Korean twins in terms of safety. (Tata, M&M, Ford, VAG twins can be said so).
2. We as car enthusiasts know that, in terms of safety, (or safeness of a car) structural rigidity and build quality are what matter more than all these lengthy feature lists. These features are more like add-ons only.

When the Seltos (I don't think Sonet is any different and no comments on Carnival), has a very poor structural strength, Carens I doubt will be any different.

I dont want to sidestep the discussion to Safety scores, but multiple airbags, ESP, all-disc brakes and Hill-Hold as standard kit are important features that cannot be ignored. At the very least, it will poke the competitors into giving similar features by default to avoid being put to shade by the marketing blitz. Because if I recall, in the 6-7 seater space that Carens is competing, apart from the XUV700, Ertiga and the diminutive Triber, none of the cars have actually been GNCAP tested. Not including the Marazzo here which has been almost killed by its creator.