The South Korean automaker Kia has been riding on the crest of the success wave in India with its offerings like the Seltos and Sonnet and to continue to bank on the rising popularity of the brand it has recently unveiled its newest offering Carens in India. The company opened the bookings for the Carens on the 14th of January and according to the automaker, it has been extremely well received by the people of India as the model has garnered 7,738 bookings in just the first day of reservations.
The booking amount for the Carens has been set at Rs 25,000 and Kia is planning to launch the car sometime in the month of February. In addition, the company has revealed that Carens has broken the record of receiving the most number of bookings on the first day of launch out of all the models in its portfolio. Previously this record was held by Sonet which received over 6,500 bookings on its first day, and before that the Seltos received around 6,000 bookings on the first booking day.
The Managing Director and CEO of Kia India, Tae-Jin Park commented on the achievement of this milestone by saying, “We are delighted with the overwhelming response that Carens has received from customers, within the first 24 hours of starting the pre-bookings. It is the highest first-day booking we have received for any of our products in India,” and he also added, “It is heartening to see the faith of our customers in brand Kia and this response from them is a testimony to the rising popularity of our latest offering in the country,”
The mass-market seven-seater from Kia will be available in five trims which include Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus. Out of which the first four variants will have the seven-seat configuration, while the top of the line Luxury Plus variant will come with an optional six-seat layout. Park added that the Carens will be offered with a choice of multiple engines and transmission options, coupled with the standard safety package and many first-in-class features to ensure it suits the requirement of anyone who wants a sophisticated and safe family mover.
Some of the features that will make their way into the Carens will be a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 4.2-inch TFT driver display, Eight-speaker Bose audio system, Air purifier, Ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lights, and Wireless phone charger with cooling function. And in addition, it will also come equipped with connected car tech, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bose audio, a single-pane sunroof, and segment-first electric one-touch tumble for the second row.
While on the safety front the Carens will be equipped with six airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, electronic stability control, all-four disc brakes, hill hold/descent control, and tyre pressure monitoring. And as for the powertrain options, the family hauler will be available with three engine options that will include a 1.5 petrol, 1.4 petrol and 1.5 diesel engine. The power figures and transmission pairings for which will be 115 PS and 144 Nm with a 6-speed manual, 140 PS and 242 Nm with 6-speed MT / 7-speed DCT and 115 PS and 250 Nm with 6-speed MT / 6-speed AT, respectively.
Keyword: Kia Carens gets 7738 bookings in a single day!