The Kia Carens is scheduled to launch in South Africa in 2025, with this crossover-styled 3-row MPV likely to arrive in facelifted form. Here’s what we know so far…
While Kia South Africa’s product plans for 2025 are headlined by the new Tasman bakkie, there’s another interesting model patiently waiting in the queue for a local introduction next year: the Kia Carens.
Yes, the South Korean automaker’s local division has confirmed to Cars.co.za that the Indian-built Carens is scheduled to launch in Mzansi at some point in the 2nd half of 2025. That timing lines up neatly with a recent Autocar India report that suggests production of the facelifted Carens will commence in May 2025.
Based on that, it seems highly likely our market will receive the as-yet-unrevealed refreshed version of this crossover-styled 3-row MPV rather than the pre-facelift model pictured here. So, expect updated exterior styling, tweaks to the cabin design and perhaps a few fresh features, too.
What do we know about the Anantapur-built Kia Carens? Well, back in August 2023, Kia SA quietly registered 2 units of the 4th-generation Carens, soon thereafter confirming to Cars.co.za these were brought in “for homologation, study and consideration”.
However, at the time, the company added that the Carens – a nameplate that was briefly offered in Mzansi in 2nd-generation form, before exiting the local market around 2009 – would “not be introduced” to South Africa. For whatever reason, that stance has now changed.
As a reminder, the current Carens was revealed at the end of 2021, built on a stretched version of the Seltos platform. Measuring 4 540 mm from snout to rump (so, slightly longer than the current Sportage), the 3-row family vehicle boasts a generous 2 780 mm wheelbase. Unlike its decidedly MPV-shaped predecessors, the KY-series Carens features a distinctly crossover-inspired exterior design.
In India, this model is offered in both 6- and 7-seater guise, pitched as a rival to the likes of the Suzuki Ertiga, Suzuki XL6 and Hyundai Grand Creta. It’s available with a choice of 1.5-litre engines, each driving the front axle: a naturally aspirated petrol unit (with a 6-speed manual gearbox), a turbopetrol motor (with either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission) and a turbodiesel mill (using either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed torque-converter automatic cog-swapper).
Of course, powertrains, local specifications and indeed pricing have yet to be nailed down for South Africa, with more information likely to be released closer to this model’s anticipated arrival in the 2nd half of 2025. As an aside, before then we can also expect the facelifted Sorento and Carnival to make local landfall, likely in the opening half of next year.
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