2022 Kia Carens revealed
2022 Kia Carens revealed
Posted on December 20, 2022
The Kia Carens has been around for years but this new version is something of a change.
Originally launched as a minivan, the big Kia has now been reimagined as an SUV. With minivans being an endangered species and Kia already having a very competent entry in that market, there wasn’t anywhere for a new Carens to go.
Until it was reimagined as an SUV.
Carens SUV
The design is pretty good. The front end is all Kia with a narrow grille and light arrangement, upward canted lower sill and detailed hood. It has a very definite hint of the Sportage about it, which works in its favour.
The side profile look a little more like a Toyota than a Kia but I like it. Fluted panels, high ride height, some nice angles and a modest roof bar that shows it as a family car without going overboard.
It’s still going to be able to do many of the same things its predecessor did but with a more up to date design.
The chassis is slightly longer and that flat roofline provides plenty of headroom on the inside.
Talking of the inside, that’s a whole different ballgame to the predecessor.
Inside the Carens
We now have a typical Kia interior. Nice materials, soft touch surfaces, no rattles or areas of poor finishing and a driver-centric setup.
It’s a family car interior with good visibility, digital displays, 10.15” touchscreen and traditional buttons for most other controls.
The Carens can seat the family comfortably in its three rows with plenty of space in back for bags or cargo. It’s a well thought-out interior with the build quality we now expect from Kia.
The 2022 Kia Carens can come with Bose audio, sunroof, switchable driving modes, hill-assist control, brake assist system, downhill brake control, parking sensors and other safety kit too.
Under the hood
As this model is for India, only data on local engines was made available. That includes a 1.5-litre engine that makes 115 hp and 106 lb-ft of torque, a turbocharged 1.4-litre with 140 hp and 179 lb-ft and a 1.5-litre diesel with 115 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque.
All will use either a 6 speed manual or 7 speed dual clutch automatic to drive the front wheels.
You read right, this is the Indian model. We don’t know if the 2022 Kia Carens is even coming to Canada yet. As Kia has a habit of creating global models and making them available everywhere, there is every reason to think we will get it in some form at some point.
We imaging we’ll get bigger wheels though. Small wheels work better on rough Indian roads but we have a tendency to like larger wheels. We’ll need bigger engines though too, as we like a little more power in our cars.
We shall have to wait and see. In the meantime, there’s always the Kia Carnival. That’s definitely coming to Canada!
Check out Kia minivans and SUVs at Georgetown Kia, 199 and 314 Guelph Street, Georgetown, Ontario