Kia Drops All But One Carens Variant Ahead Of Clavis Price Reveal

Kia India has made changes to the variant lineup of the Carens MPV right after the unveiling of the Carens Clavis. Ahead of the price announcement for Carens Clavis on May 23, the brand discontinued multiple trims of the affordable MPV in its lineup. Now, only the trim level above the base variant, i.e., the Premium (O) is on offer. It now comes at a starting price of Rs 11.41 lakh (ex-showroom).

Before the changes, the Kia Carens MPV was available in 10 trim levels. Namely, the MPV had Premium, Premium (O), Prestige, Prestige (O), Prestige Plus, Prestige Plus (O), Luxury, Luxury (O), Luxury Plus, and X-Line. Apart from these, there was also a Gravity trim which has also been removed from the official website.

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Additionally, the South Korean brand has eliminated a few powertrain combinations. Specifically, the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol is now only available with a six-speed manual transmission. Similarly, the 1.5-litre turbo petrol unit is only available with the six-speed iMT, whereas the 1.5-litre diesel gets the six-speed manual transmission.With the changes in place, the prospective consumers of the MPV no longer have the option to buy an automatic transmission variant of the Carens. The changes in the variant lineup will likely push the consumers towards the Kia Carens Clavis, which comes with 6MT, 6iMT, and 7DCT paired with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine. Similarly, the diesel variants of the Clavis come with six-speed MT and AT options. It can also be the strategy of the brand to slowly phase out the Carens out of existence.

The Kia Carens Premium (O) comes with steel wheels, halogen headlamps and taillamps, rear skid plates, black beltline, arch and side mouldings. All of this is complemented by the presence of seven colour options. Meanwhile, the highlight of the cabin is an 8-inch touchscreen supporting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, along with wireless phone projection, voice recognition, and steering-mounted audio controls.