The seven-seater Kia Carens MPV is officially making a comeback after a three-year hiatus. Kia discontinued the model in 2018 as it shifted its focus on developing crossovers and SUVs. But, that’s all in the past now as Kia is set to launch the all-new Carens on December 16 in India.
Kia Carens | Coming Soon!
Kia released a teaser video for the upcoming launch of the all-new 2022 Carens. The video didn’t give much on how the Carens will look like but the sneak peek tells us that it will have a bolder, and more athletic exterior design.
The teaser provided a glimpse of the Carens’ front end, which appears to be integrated with sharp-looking LED daytime running lights that are complemented by a sleek black grille design. The rear is also teased, and from what we can see, the all-new Kia Carens is fitted with distinctive wraparound LED taillights.
Kia India has yet to reveal more details about the upcoming all-new Carens. But based on our previous report, Kia India’s intention of introducing the 2022 Carens first surfaced through a leaked corporate presentation.
Kia India leaked corporate presentation
Based on the said presentation, Kia will be launching a new MPV, codenamed KY for the Indian market. The KY MPV will reportedly be based on the Kia Seltos, which is also the platform used by the second-generation seven-seater Hyundai Creta.
This means there’s a high probability that the KY could be Hyundai Creta’s counterpart under the Kia brand. And from the looks of it, the MPV codenamed KY could most likely be the all-new Kia Carens.
Since KY is said to be based on the Seltos, we could expect that the upcoming Kia Carens will have similar powertrain options. In the Indian market, the Seltos is available with either a 1.5-liter gasoline or diesel engine. The gasoline power unit delvers 113 hp and 144 Nm of torque while the diesel engine generates 113 hp and 250 Nm.
New MPV with sales target of 50K units per year in India
The leaked corporate presentation also indicated that Kia plans to sell 50,000 units of the KY per year in the Indian market, while the sales export target sits at 26,000 units annually. As such, there’s a good chance that the 2022 Kia Carens could be sold outside India.
2022 Kia Carens leaked interior image
Following the trail of the KY codename, a leaked photo of its interior has surfaced online courtesy of Indian website HT Auto. And if the KY is indeed the upcoming Kia Carens, we can expect an upmarket cabin that’s highlighted by a modern dashboard layout.
All-new Kia Carens to debut in India this December
Of note, Kia has yet to release the official details of the 2022 Carens. As such, take the info we reported with a grain of salt. The all-new Kia Carens will be revealed in India on December 16 at 2:30 p.m. PH time.
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