The Kia Carens premium MPV, launched exactly three years ago on February 15, 2022, has driven past the 200,000-units milestone in the domestic market. As per the latest wholesales data released by SIAM, the Kia Carens has sold 199,952 units till end-January 2025, just 48 units shy of the 200,000 mark which would have been achieved in the first few days of this month.
With this, the Carens becomes the third Kia utility vehicles to achieve 200,000 sales in India, after the Seltos midsize SUV (527,021 units) and the Sonet compact SUV (397,563 units). The versatile MPV with a usable third row of seats has taken a few days less than 36 months to achieve the latest sales milestone. While the first 100,000 sales took 16 months, the next 100,000 units have taken 14 months. This reduction in the timeline in the second round of 100,000 sales is the result of a the launch of a refreshed model in April 2024 and the addition of new diesel-manual powertrain.
As per the wholesales data table below, FY2023 with 70,314 units was the Carens’ best fiscal, accounting for 26% of Kia India’s total sales of 269,229 vehicles. FY2024’s 63,167 units were down 11% YoY and the 53,779 units sold in the first 10 months of the current FY2025 are up just 0.30% YoY (April 2023-January 2024: 53,558 units).
FY2023 with 70,314 units was the Carens’ best fiscal to date, accounting for 26% of Kia India’s total sales of 269,229 vehicles.
On the export front, Kia India has shipped a total of 23,273 Carens to overseas markets with FY2024’s 8,489 units being the best fiscal. In the current fiscal, 6,698 units have been exported.
The Carens, which has been crash tested under Global NCAP’s new protocols in April 2024 and received a three-star rating, has had two recalls till now. The first recall was in October 2022 to check for an error in the airbag control unit software of 44,174 units, and the second on June 26, 2023 to inspect and update the software for a likely issue with the digital instrument cluster on 30,297 units.
The Carens with 199,952 units accounts for 26% of Kia India’s cumulative domestic sales of 760,262 vehicles from February 2022 through to end-January 2025. Since August 2019, Kia India has sold a total of 1.14 million vehicles in the domestic market.
The Kia Carens offers amazing levels of comfort and space, and coupled with multiple drivetrain options, including a diesel engine, it is also a hit with fleet operators where the segment leader Maruti Ertiga only offers a CNG option.
CARENS’ SHARE OF KIA INDIA SALES SINCE ITS LAUNCH: 26%
The company has successfully positioned the Carens as a premium six- / seven-seater recreational vehicle with a blend of modern styling and features, and offered with six airbags as standard.
The high-on-space and comfort Carens is targeted at large families scouting for a premium, spacious cabin as well as day-to-day practicality, and a choice of multiple powertrains.
The Carens is currently available in 33 variants – 18 petrol and 15 diesel – priced from Rs 12.24 lakh for the base 1.5 Premium 7-seater petrol through to top-end diesel 1.5 CRDi X-Line 6-seater AT which costs Rs 23.75 lakh (on-road Delhi). Fuel efficiency is claimed at up to 16.5kpl for the petrol Carens and 21.5kpl for the diesel variants.
The second MPV which Kia launched in India after the Carnival (which has recently been re-introduced), the Carens with 199,952 units has contributed to 26% of Kia India’s total cumulative sales of 760,262 units since February 2022 since the model was launched.
Given that there are two well-entrenched rivals – the Maruti Ertiga and the Toyota Innova Crysta / Innova Hycross – in the ultra-competitive MPV market, this performance is noteworthy. In FY2024, with 63,167 units, the Carens was India’s third best-selling MPV and No. 17 in the Top 20 utility vehicles ranking in FY2024. As is known, FY2024 saw India UV Inc achieve record sales of over 2.42 million sales in a market which comprised 30 OEMs with over 100 models and 800-plus variants.
Production of the Kia Carens facelift is slated to start around mid-2025. The refreshed Carens will also get an electric powertrain. Photo: Autocar India
NEW CARENS TO ROLL OUT LATER THIS YEAR, ELECTRIC CARENS COMING TOO
It is understood that a Kia Carens facelift model is planned to be introduced in the domestic market later this year, and as per an Autocar India report, production is slated to commence by May 2025. There have been a number of sightings of the updated MPV being tested. What’s more, there will also be a Carens in electric avatar.
The refreshed Carens is expected to get plentiful cosmetic updates to lend an all-new look to the front and the rear while there could also be changes to the interior.
The Carens will carry forward the existing engine options – a 115hp, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 160hp, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol and a 116hp, 1.5-litre diesel with multiple choices of manual and automatic gearboxes. The big news on the powertrain front is that the MPV will also get an all-new electric powertrain, will go on sale likely at the same time as the facelift.
Kia Corporation, which has outlined a target of selling 1.6 million EVs annually by 2030, has plans to build 15 new EVs including the Carens EV for India.
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