Kia Motors India has announced the launch date of its Kia Ciros on January 2. The Korean company will launch its premium midsize SUV on February 2. Kia had just last month announced the car in the Indian market with several segment-first premium features. The booking of the car will be started from January 3.
It is the first car in the sub-4 meter segment in India to have all the seats ventilated and electrically adjustable. Apart from this, the premium SUV also gets segment first features like 60:40 split recline rear seat and panoramic sunroof. For safety, features like Level-2 Advanced Driving Assist System (ADAS), 360-degree camera and 6 airbags (standard) are also provided.
Booking will start from 3rd January This is the company's fifth SUV in the Indian market, positioned between the Seltos and Sonet. The new Kia Syros is designed with more premium customers in mind compared to the Sonet. The Syros is offered in 6 variants. These include HTK, HTK (O), HTK+, HTX, HTX+ and HTX+ (O).
The company is calling it a mini carnival. Its bookings will start from January 3 and deliveries will start from February 2025. The company has not yet announced the prices. The price of the Ciros can start from Rs 9 lakh (ex-showroom).
There will be no direct competition with this vehicle, but it will be a cheaper alternative to compact SUV cars like Hyundai Creta, Maruti Grand Vitara and Kia Seltos. It will also compete with sub-compact SUV cars like Tata Nexon, Maruti Brezza, Mahindra XUV 3XO and Hyundai Venue.
Exterior: Kia's first ICE car in India with flush type door handles Talking about the exterior design of the Kia Syros, it follows the company's global design language, which is inspired by the Kia Carnival, Kia EV3 and Kia EV9. The Ciros is the first ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car in the Kia Indian lineup to feature flush type door handles.
The Kia Syros features a traditional boxy and upright SUV design, with vertical LED headlamps placed on the sides of the bumper. Like the new Carnival, it features three LED projector units and unique drop-down LED daytime running lights (DRL). The upper part of the front fascia is sealed and looks almost EV-like. The air intake is integrated into the lower part, which is highlighted by the contrasting silver trim below.
On the side, the Kia Syros features black colored A, C and D pillars, joined by body colored B pillars, creating a sleek and clean window line. Other highlights include thick plastic cladding on the wheel arches and a special kink in the rear window line.
The lower variant of the car will get 16-inch and the higher variant will get 17-inch 3-petal alloy wheels. The tall boy design at the rear makes the car look like a minivan. The flat tailgate has L-shaped taillights around the rear windscreen and the rear bumper gets a stylish two-tone black and silver finish.
Interior: Dual tone cabin theme Its cabin is quite futuristic. The Kia Syros features a black and gray dual-tone cabin theme, with a dashboard inspired by the Kia EV9 and a two-spoke steering wheel. Apart from this, it also has a gloss gray element covering the entire width of the dashboard, while its AC vents are slim and rectangular in shape.
The biggest highlight of its cabin is the triple screen setup it provides. It has two 12.3-by-12.3-inch displays for the infotainment system and driver display, and a 5-inch unit for climate control. Kia claims that together they make a 30-inch display.
Below the touch screen unit, there are scroll type controls for volume control along with physical controls for infotainment. Below this, there are physical controls for the climate control unit and below that, multiple charging options that include a Type C port and a wireless charging pad.
Apart from this, push button start/stop, 360 degree camera and parking sensor button are also provided in the console near the gear shifter. The gear lever in its DCT and automatic variants is finished in dual tone matte and gloss gray colours, while an orange stripe is also given for a sporty look.
The interior door handles get a brushed silver finish while the 3-level ventilated seat controls are located on the doors. Kia has also given the Ciros a 4-way assist driver's seat.
The seats are also given a dual tone black and gray pattern. On which leatherette upholstery has been provided. For rear passengers, it also has a center armrest, sun blinds and 3-level seat ventilation. Like the front, it also has rear seat ventilation controls located on the doors.
For convenience, it also features a Type C charging port and AC vents on the rear seats. At the same time, the front row seats are also provided with armrests that have air purifiers. Kia has provided a panoramic sunroof in the top variants of the Ciros while its lower variants have also been offered a single pan unit.
Performance: 1-litre turbo-petrol engine Kia Ciros offers two engine options for performance. It has a 1-litre 3 cylinder turbo-petrol engine that generates 120hp of power and 172Nm of torque. For transmission, this engine will be available with the option of a 6-speed manual gearbox (MT) and a 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox (DCT). This petrol engine is available in Hyundai i20 N-Line, Venue and Kia Sonet.
At the same time, another 1.5 liter 4 cylinder diesel engine will be available, generating 116hp of power and 250Nm of torque. As for the transmission, it will be available with the option of a 6-speed manual gearbox (MT) and a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox (AT). The company has not disclosed the mileage of both the engines. This diesel engine is also available in Hyundai Venue, Creta, Carens, Seltos and Sonet.
Safety Features: 6 Airbags (Standard) with Level-2 ADAS For safety, Kia Ciros gets 6 airbags (standard), 360-degree camera and level-2 Advanced Driving Assist System (ADAS). It includes features like adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
