It has been just over a couple of years since Kia entered the difficult to please Indian market but boy have they knocked it out of the park. The car maker has enjoyed huge success with every model that it has launched starting with the Seltos and then following that up with the Carnival MPV and the Sonet compact SUV. And this here is the fourth model for India, the Kia Carens, which made its global debut in India last month. Going by Kia’s track record so far, the Carens does come with a lot of expectations. Slated to launch soon, I got to spend a day with two variants of the Carens. Will it follow in the successful foot steps of its stablemates? Answers follow.

Kia Carens Exterior

The Carens gets its name from a merge of ‘car’ and ‘renaissance’. It is actually supposed to be a three row version of the Seltos, just like how the Hyundai Alcazar is to the Creta. But unlike the Alcazar that shares styling cues from its sibling, the Carens has its own distinctive design. It looks more like an MPV than an SUV. Kia however, calls it a recreational vehicle or RV. Dimensions wise it is 225 mm longer , 80 mm taller and the wheelbase is longer by 160 mm at 2780 mm. Up front the Carens gets a knurled black panel that integrates with the headlamps. The actual front grille positioned below at the front bumper. The trademark Kia Tiger Nose design element is very much there around the air dam. What I totally love are the LED DRLs that have a super unique design and also double up as turn indicators. The body cladding on the side and wheel arches give the Carens some SUV persona. The range topping variants get smart looking 16 inch alloy wheels. A strong character line starts from the DRLs, disappears into the front door and then becomes prominent at the tail. The roof rails are purely cosmetic. The rear is has a very clean layout. The triangular tail lamps have nice LED elements and the Kia logo sits at the centre of the tail gate. There is ample chrome all around like the rear bumper, door handles, rear quarter glass etc. The roof rails are only cosmetic. Overall Kia has done a great job of giving the Carens its unique style identity. I have to admit that I found it a bit off to look at when I saw it first at the global unveil, but spending some time with it has changed my opinion. I love the looks especially from the front three quarter.