Kia India has recently teased the upcoming MPV from their side, The Kia Clavis. Initially everyone expected this MPV to be the facelifted Kia Carens, but Kia says this vehicle is going to be sold aside at a position higher than the Carens itself. Now, the carmaker is set to introduce the facelifted version in the near future. The 2025 Carens, which will now be called the Kia Clavis, will be launching in India on 8th May.
Design
The design of the Clavis may seem familiar to most Kia customers. It will reportedly feature a 3 lamp headlight set-up along with a T-shaped LED DRL. Though not much was revealed in the video, we expect the Clavis to get a new design for the dual-tone alloy wheels and the bumpers, as well as connected tail-lights as seen in recent spy shots.
The generic design of the Clavis will retain it’s MPV form, but will appeal towards customers who desire a certain sense of premium-ness from their vehicle, somewhat like a Seltos’s top variant customer who needs 2 extra seats.
Interior And Features
To fulfill the desires of the Seltos top variant customer who needs 2 extra seats, the Kia Clavis will reportedly feature an ADAS level-2 system along with more than 20 ADAS features as seen in Kia’s latest teaser video.
Along with this, the current Carens is the only Kia model in India to not feature an ADAS suite, but the Clavis teaser showing a collision warning on the digital cluster suggests the updated MPV could finally get level 2 of autonomous tech. Apart from that, the Clavis top model may also add a 360-degree camera setup. Minor changes to the dashboard, switches, toggles and buttons are likely as well.
Powertrain To Expect
The new Clavis is expected to share its powertrains with the current Kia Carens. These get three 1.5-litre engines: a naturally-aspirated petrol (115 BHP, 144 Nm), a turbo-petrol (160 BHP, 253Nm) and a diesel (116 BHP, 250Nm). The NA petrol engine comes only with a manual gearbox, while the turbo-petrol motor can be paired with either an iMT (clutchless manual) or DCT. Meanwhile, the diesel engine is offered with manual and torque converter automatic options.
Expected Pricing
The expected price of the upcoming Kia Clavis is expected to start around 12.00 Lakh Rupees (ex-showroom) and go all the way upto 21.50 Lakh Rupees (ex-showroom) for the top variant. At these price gaps, some variants will compete heavily against the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and XL6 and the higher variants will compete against the Toyota Innova Crysta along with Clavis’s own sister vehicle, The Hyundai Alcazar.
Verdict
The Upcoming Kia Clavis is going to be excellent when it comes to premium family hauling. It will certainly be more premium than the previous Carens and will appeal to customers who were previously looking for the Alcazar or a Seltos with more seats. A customer who wants a rather comfortable and premium 6-7 Seater should certainly wait a few days more to find out how the Clavis will compete.
