Kia Sonet, Seltos And Carens To Get Feature Updates Soon

A majority of the updates fall under the safety department, the most important one being the introduction of the three-point seatbelt for the rear middle passenger

• The three-point seatbelt for rear-middle occupant will first be introduced on the two SUVs followed by the Carens.

• Kia to offer the Sonet with ISOFIX and ESC (diesel only) across all variants.

• The Carens will soon get the 12.5-inch digitised instrument cluster as standard.

• Connected car tech of all three updated to support Alexa connectivity since March 1.

• Expect their prices to go up once these updates are rolled out.

Kia seems to have planned multiple updates for its localised trio – the Sonet, Seltos and Carens – apart from the BS6 phase II upgrade. Now, fresh details from our sources have revealed that the Korean marque will be rolling out some feature updates for the three models.

Here’s a look at the model-wise changes Kia has lined up:

Sonet

• With the update, Kia will focus on offering more safety features as standard across the Sonet’s lineup. These include the ISOFIX anchors and adjustable rear headrests, which were previously only available from the higher-specced HTX trim onwards.

• The carmaker will also be rolling out two minor yet important features for the sub-4m SUV: a three-point seatbelt for the rear middle passenger and an adjustable headrest for this occupant as well.

• The Sonet already comes with four airbags and a highline tyre pressure monitoring system as standard.

• However, the Sonet will no longer get a fold-out rear armrest.

• Kia has also recently updated (March 1, 2023 onwards) the connected car tech on offer on the range-topping trims of the Sonet with Amazon Alexa connectivity. It allows users to give remote commands via Kia Connect such as remote climate control, remote vehicle status check, vehicle lock/unlock, find my car, speed alert (turn on/off), time fence alert (turn on/off), etc. This feature is being introduced to both existing as well as new customers.

Seltos

• Like the Sonet, the Seltos too will be getting a three-point seatbelt for the rear middle seat passenger.

• Its connected car tech has been updated as well, now with support for Amazon Alexa connectivity for the same functions as mentioned earlier.

Also Read: Top 5 Tips To Use And Maintain Your Sunroof Properly

Carens

• Kia will soon be introducing the 12.5-inch digitised instrument cluster from the base-spec Premium trim of the Carens. Until now, it’s only been on offer from the second-to-base Prestige trim.

• The MPV will also come with leather-wrapped gear knob from the mid-spec Prestige Plus trim, which was till now only offered on the higher-specced Luxury variants.

• While the carmaker won’t be providing it with a three-point rear centre seatbelt on the Carens with this update, it will be rolled out shortly after.

• Like the SUV duo, the Carens’s connected car tech also gets Alexa connectivity since March 1 onwards to carry out the same functions.

Related: Kia India To Drop The Diesel-manual Option From Sonet, Seltos And Carens’s Lineups

Price And Rivals

With these updates, we expect all three Kia cars to get a bump in their prices. For now, the Sonet is priced between Rs 7.69 lakh and Rs 14.39 lakh, while the Seltos and Carens retail in the range of Rs 10.19 lakh to Rs 19.15 lakh. Kia’s sub-4m SUV is a rival to the Mahindra XUV300, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Nissan Magnite, Maruti Brezza, and Renault Kiger. On the other hand, the Seltos goes up against the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun and Maruti Grand Vitara. Meanwhile, the Carens is positioned below the Toyota Innova and as an alternative to the likes of the Hyundai Alcazar.

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