Own a Kia Carens? Your car could be part of a voluntary recall over airbag issue

Kia India on Tuesday informed that it is recalling 44,174 units of its latest offering - Carens - to inspect a potential issue in the air bag control module software. If any error is found during the inspection, the company will fix the issue through a free software upgrade. The automaker will directly start reaching out to the owners of the concerned vehicles so as to inform them about this voluntary recall campaign.

Once informed about the recall, the owners of the affected Carens vehicles would be required to get in touch with their respective Kia authorised dealers to schedule an appointment. The company had launched the model in February this year, with both six- and seven-seat options. The model sources power from a range of powertrain options, which are same as Kia Seltos.

It gets a 1.4-litre GDI petrol engine that churns out 140 PS of power, and is available with transmission options including a 7-speed DCT and a 6-speed manual unit. There is a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine as well, which generates 115 PS of power. This engine is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Another option is a 1.5-litre CRDi diesel engine, which will be available with options like a 6-speed AT and a 6-speed MT gearbox. This engine is capable of churning out 115 PS of maximum power output.

In terms of safety, the Kia range topping Carens variant comes with six airbags, ISOFIX child seat mounts, rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring system, disc brakes on all wheels, ESC, ABS and downhill brake control.

The Carens' cabin offers creature comfort features including a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, eight-speaker Bose surround sound system, 64-color ambient lighting, and a sunroof, among others. It also gets front ventilated seats, air purifier, and one-touch tumble down functionality for second row occupant.