Kia Carens or Hyundai Alcazar? Similarities, differences explained

Kia India took the covers off the Carens RV last week. Expected to be launched early next year, the Carens is likely to take on other three-row offerings in the country, ranging between the Maruti Ertiga and Toyota Innova Crysta. However, its closest rival is expected to be Hyundai Alcazar, which shares a lot of similarities with Kia’s fourth model in India.

Kia has kept a lot of details about the new Carens under wraps until the official price launch next year. However, based on the details we have already, it can be said Alcazar comes closer to Carens when comparing features, specifications and other details.

While Alcazar is based on Hyundai’s five-seater Creta SUV, Kia has all but said that the Carens draws inspiration from its Creta-rivalling Seltos SUV. However, both Alcazar and Carens are much more feature-loaded compared to the five-seater versions, while offering similar powertrains used in the compacts SUVs.

To start with, the dimensions of the new Carens, which has not been officially revealed yet, appears to be quite similar to that of the Alcazar. It is likely to be in the 4,500 mm range in length and wheelbase above the 2,700 mm mark. While the width of the Carens also appears similar to that of Alcazar, it probably sits slightly lower in height. Also, Alcazar sits on 18- or 17-inch wheels compared to 16-inchers from Carens.

Under the hood, Carens will come with the choice of two types of petrol engines and a diesel engine as well. The 1.5-litre petrol and diesel unit are sourced straight from the ones that power the Seltos SUV. However, there will be one additional choice of a 1.4-litre turbo petrol unit in Carens, which will set it apart from Alcazar. The Hyundai three-row SUV is powered by a 2.0-litre petrol engine and a 1.5-litre diesel mill which is also found under the hood of the Creta SUV.

As far as features are concerned, Kia Carens will come with spacious cabin highlighted by a large 10.25-inch Infotainment screen at the centre of the dashboard. It also gets a digital driver display which is integrated with the infotainment unit in one long screen stretching till the wheels. The Carens will come with other features like a panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting, air purifier, ventilated front seats, 8-speaker BOSE sound system, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and more.

Hyundai Alcazar has all these features, except the screen for infotainment and driver display being separate units. While Carens will be a three-row car, Kia has not confirmed whether it will also have a seven-seater variant besides the six-seater model showcased during the unveiling. Hyundai Alcazar offers both six- and seven-seater variants. The space inside, from what was seen during the unveiling, also seems quite similar when compared. It remains to be seen if Carens offers more space and features for the third row passengers than the Alcazar.

Alcazar is likely to score big when it comes to space for luggage. Kia claims Carens offers around 492 litre of space when the last row is folded. Hyundai Alcazar offers 579 litres of boot space with third row down. With all seats up, Alcazar has 180 litres of space left for luggage while Carens will offer a little more than 100 litres.

As far as safety is concerned, Kia will offer Carens with six airbags as standard. It also comes with other safety and driver assistance features like Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Stability Management, Hill-start Assist Control, Downhill Brake Control, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and All-Wheel Disc brakes, among others. Hyundai Alcazar also offers similar safety features as well as Blind view Monitor. It is not clear yet if Alcazar will offer blind spot detection cameras inside Carens yet.