Kia’s move to discontinue 9 Carens variants could aim to simplify consumer choices, enhance market differentiation with Clavis and boost operational efficiency
On 8th May, Kia launched the Left keya more premium version of the Carens MPV. In a surprising move, Kia has now discontinued all but one trim levels of the Carens. Only the one-above-base Premium (O) trim remains to be on offer, with prices starting at Rs 11.41 lakh. Let’s check out the details.
Kia Carens Major Variant Rejig – Powertrain options
Earlier, Kia Carens was offered in 10 trim levels – Premium, Premium (O), Prestige, Prestige (O), Prestige Plus, Prestige Plus (O), Luxury, Luxury (O), Luxury Plus and X-Line. Kia later launched Gravity trim, which is also discontinued now. Along with axing trim levels, Kia has also axed a ton of powertrain combinations.
The 115 PS, 1.5-litre NA petrol engine is available only with a 6-speed manual transmission. The 160 PS, 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine is being offered with a 6-speed iMT transmission only. The 116 PS, 1.5-litre diesel engine is solely available with a 6-speed manual transmission.
As is evident, a traditional (or real) automatic transmission option is no longer available with the Carens. The Premium (O) variant of the Carens is aimed at budget-conscious buyers, while also encouraging them to consider upgrading to the Kia Clavis. In terms of transmission choices, Kia Clavis gets 6MT, 6iMT and 7DCT with the 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine.
Clavis diesel variants have transmission choices of 6MT and 6AT. Folks who prefer automatic transmission will need to upgrade to Kia Clavis. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the Carens. If sales are low, the MPV could be entirely discontinued. Or, it will continue to be available if sales numbers are significant or even emerge as a CV only for fleet operators.
Kia Carens Premium (O) – Key features
Targeted at budget-conscious customers, Kia Carens Premium (O) trim focuses on a no-frills strategy. Variant with the 1.5-litre NA petrol engine gets 15-inch steel wheels with a full-size cover. The 1.5-litre turbo petrol and 1.5-litre diesel variants come with 16-inch steel wheels with full-size cover.
Carens Premium (O) variant has halogen headlamps, halogen tail lamps, body-coloured front and rear bumper, wheel arch and side mouldings, black beltline, body-coloured door handles, shark fin antenna and rear skid plate (MIC Black). Customers can choose from a total of 7 colour options.
Inside, Carens Premium (O) variant has an 8-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a 12.5-inch LCD cluster with a 4.2-inch colour TFT MID, USB Type-A media port, Type-C USB ports, wireless phone projection, Bluetooth, voice recognition, steering mounted audio controls, 4 speakers and 2 tweeters.
Other highlights include tilt power steering, all doors power windows, customizable seats, day and night IRVM, a rearview camera with dynamic guidelines and driving rear view monitor W/o button. Carens Premium (O) has dual-tone black and beige interiors with indigo accents.
Safety kit is pretty robust with electronic stability control, vehicle stability management, hill start assist control, downhill brake control, 6-airbags, rear parking sensors and all-wheel disk brakes. However, users who want enhanced safety with ADAS will need to upgrade to Kia Clavis. Kia Carens will continue to rival the likes of Maruti XL6Maruti Ertiga and Toyota Rumion.
