Kia India has launched the BS6 Phase II compliant version of the Sonet, Seltos and Carens in the country. The troika of Sonet-Seltos-Carens now come with E20 fuel compatible petrol engines and additional features. The BS6 Phase II emission norms come into effect from April 1, 2023 in India and ahead of it, Kia has updated its product range. The company has made ISG (Idle Stop Go) feature standard across all the models.

Also Read: All-Electric Kia EV9 Concept Debuts at Auto Expo 2023 – Price, Launch, Range and More

Commenting on the development, Mr. Tae-Jin Park, MD & CEO, Kia India, said, “With the launch of the EV6 in India and committing a home-grown EV by 2025, we reflected our commitment to align our product strategy with the Indian government’s electric vision. Now with the RDE norms coming into effect, we are delighted to offer our contribution once again to the government’s efforts to keep the environment clean and green.”

2023 Kia Carens

The 2023 Kia Carens will go on sale in a price bracket of Rs 10.45-18.90 lakh (ex-showroom) in India. The biggest change in the new model is the phasing out of the 1.4L T-GDi Smartstream petrol engine. The South-Korean brand has replaced it with a 1.5L T-GDi Smartstream petrol mill which belts out 157 bhp and 253 Nm. There is a minute bump in power output of the 1.5L CRDi VGT diesel unit as it now delivers 114 bhp as compared to earlier 113 bhp. The 1.5L Smartstream petrol engine remains untouched in terms of power and torque. All the three engines are RDE compliant.

Kia has discontinued the manual gearbox from diesel and turbo-petrol variants, and instead a 6-speed iMT gearbox is introduced. The 6-speed manual transmission is only available with the naturally aspirated 1.5L Smartstream petrol engine.

As for features, it gets Idle Stop & Go (ISG) as standard while 4.2-inch instrument cluster has been extended to the entry-level Premium grade. In addition, the Prestige Plus trim will now be sold with Leather wrapped gear knob. And, needless to state, Kia Connect skill for Amazon Alexa is added as a connected car feature. The Alexa device can be connected to customers’ vehicle by registering on Amazon Alexa application and they can access the ‘Kia Connect’ in the ‘Skills and Games’ section in the app while linking their Kia Connect account using their log-in credentials. The feature is also available for the EV6 customers.

2023 Kia Sonet

Starting with the 2023 Sonet, it is priced between Rs 7.79-14.89 lakh (ex-showroom) in the Indian market. The 1.0L and 1.2L petrol engines remain unchanged, except the upgrade to RDE emission norms along with E20 fuel compatibility. However, the existing 1.5L CRDi WGT diesel engine has been replaced by the 1.5L CRDi VGT motor. The new diesel mill comes with power output of 114 bhp as compared to the 98 bhp of the engine that it is replacing.

The 2023 Kia Sonet will have 6-speed iMT gearbox as standard across the diesel and turbo petrol variants. The 5-speed manual gearbox will only be available with the naturally aspirated 1.2L Smartstream petrol engine.

As told before, Idle Stop & Go (ISG) comes as a standard feature. In addition, the SUV also gets rear seat headrest with up and down functionality as standard across the entire variant line-up. The HTX and other higher trims also boast of the Kia Connect skill for Amazon Alexa which is home to car connectivity function. The Alexa device can be connected to customers’ vehicle by registering on Amazon Alexa application. The customers can access the ‘Kia Connect’ in the ‘Skills and Games’ section in the app and link their Kia Connect account using their log-in credentials.

Last but not the least, the 2023 Sonet is equipped with ISOFIX child seat anchorages as standard safety feature. Furthermore, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is introduced as standard features in the diesel variants.

2023 Kia Seltos

The 2023 Kia Seltos has been launched in a range of Rs 10.89-19.65 lakh (ex-showroom) in the country. The existing 1.5L CRDi VGT diesel (power up by 1 bhp) and the naturally aspirated 1.5L Smartstream petrol engines have been updated to RDE emission norms. The company has further stated that the 1.4L Turbo GDI petrol engine has been discontinued and soon it will be presenting a 1.5L Turbo GDi motor as its replacement.

Identical to the Sonet, the 6-speed iMT unit has been made standard across the diesel variants. The SUV will now also come with Idle Stop & Go (ISG) and Kia Connect skill for Amazon Alexa. Though the latter is reserved for HTX and above trims as it enables the user to perform several tasks such as Remote Climate Control, Lock/Unlock Vehicle, Turn On/Off Speed Alert, Turn On/Off Time Fence Alert, Turn On/Off Idle time alert, Door Lock/Unlock Status, Engine Status, Boot Status, AC status, Find My Car, Tyre Pressure Information, Fuel Level Information and Air Quality Status.

Read all the Latest Auto News here