Kia India recalls 30,297 units of Carens for software update

South Korean carmaker Kia on Tuesday recalled 30,297 units of Kia Carens in India for a software update.

The recall campaign has been initiated to inspect any potential error in the cluster booting process that may cause the cluster to go blank, the automaker says.

"As a responsible corporate, the company conducts regular checks and rigorous testing of components, governed by Kia's global standard. The company has initiated the recall campaign for vehicle inspection and, if required, a free-of-cost software update," the company says, adding it will take utmost care to minimise inconvenience to customers throughout this campaign.

Kia India will directly reach out to the owners of the vehicles concerned to update them about this voluntary recall campaign. Customers of the affected vehicles would be required to contact their respective Kia Authorised dealers to schedule an appointment.

Kia, the fifth-largest carmaker in India in 2022-23, recalled 44,174 units of Kia Carens to inspect any potential error in airbag control module software in October last year.

In April 2017, Kia India signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the state government of Andhra Pradesh, to build a new manufacturing facility at Anantapur. Kia commenced mass production in August 2019 and has an annual production capacity of approximately 300,000 units. The company has completed over 8.89 lakh dispatches from its Anantapur plant, including 7 lakh domestic sales and over 2 lakh exports. It has over 2 lakh connected cars on Indian roads. The carmaker has a network of 432 touchpoints across 213 cities.

Kia currently has five vehicles in the Indian market – the Seltos, the Carnival, the Sonet, the Carens, and the EV6. The Kia EV6 is the South Korean carmaker's flagship EV which was launched in India in June.

Kia India is following its top-down approach in the EV segment. "The EV6 launch was to not test waters. It is part of our top-down strategy, and purely from a brand-building perspective. The carbuyers should witness the best Kia has in the world so that there is confidence in the brand when we bring in cars in the lower segment in the next few years," Hardeep Singh Brar, vice-president and head of sales and marketing, Kia India, had earlier told Fortune India.

Kia is aiming for a battery electric vehicles (BEV) line-up of 14 models by 2027—for which it has invested $22 billion—and some of those models could be heading for Indian roads, possibly in the next four to five years. Kia is also targeting a 6.6% global EV market share, and a 25% share of its sales from eco-friendly vehicles by the end of 2025.