With apologies to Judith Durham of the Seekers, the Carnival is… thanks to Korean automaker Kia, just getting started really.
Comfortably sitting at 0.6 percent of the overall market—up from 0.4 percent for 2020 – the people moving segment is owned outright by the Kia Carnival, which accounts for 50 percent of its segment.
So, this makes the Kia Carnival the crowned king of MPVs, but so what? Who wants a hot selling MPV in the business world anyway? Take a seat, we’ll explain a few things…
The Carnival is now in its fourth generation and oh momma has it changed! The first Carnies were big, high-roofed things with enormous three-litre Rover engines.
Today’s Carnival is trending more towards being a car with Kia deciding consumers want something cool in the design of their seven seaters and has accordingly, delivered it in spades.
If ever an MPV could be described as looking rad and with the times, Carnival is it.
Ok, some hard facts: the Carnival is now built on the same platform as the large SUV Sorento, which means the people mover is slightly larger than the outgoing model, which means it is more useful.
Yes, it can seat eight, but it can do so intelligently. For example, the centre seat in the second row can face forward and back, convert into a table, or be removed completely. And then there’s the 140mm forward and 700mm back sliding ability of said second row.
Cargo space with all seats in ‘road march’ people hauling configuration is a smart 627 litres. That’s really pretty good for an octo-mover, but… drop all the passenger seats and you get a staggering 2785 litres to move a heckuva lot of office supplies!
This is what we mean when we suggest the three model Carnival – EX, Deluxe and Premium (tested) – is versatile.
But versatility does not come at the expense of sophistication. The Carnival interior appointment rivals that of some stylish passenger cars, which can’t do what the Carnival can.
We loved the upfront cabin interior. Its clean, lean and refreshing.
Dominated by a 12.5” (8” in the EX), touchscreen allowing for Bluetooth/Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, satellite navigation and split screen ability for the Around View monitor (Deluxe and Premium models) with dynamic guidelines, all controls and switchgear falls nicely to hand and feels good, even the rotary dial for the eight-speed automatic.
Safety systems? Yeah, check out what’s standard across the range: seven airbags, forward collision avoidance assist with junction view, and car, pedestrian and cyclist detection; lane keep/follow assist, blind spot collision avoidance assist, intelligent speed limit assist, safe exit assist, driver attention warning, high beam assist and smart cruise control.
The cockpit is visually and tactilely interesting too, with various sophisticated surfaces.
There’s woodgrain, faux carbon fibre with the diamond motif which extends outside the vehicle, piano black and offsetting elegant cream plastics, leather – its all here for the touching.
As to driving, you are at the helm of what amounts to a large wagon, and thanks to a completely new suspension setup, the Carnival drives like one too, nicely stable with no unwanted tail happy or body rolling characteristics.
And acceleration? I don’t think even the mega-displacement of the earlier models could hold a candle to Kia’s Smartstream 2.2 litre turbo diesel, which delivers an astonishing 6.5 litres per 100km with all the alacrity and acceleration of a medium-sized sedan.
A people mover per excellence then, or a station wagon with aspirations to being the world’s sexiest looking cargo hauler?
We can’t call it, but we want one. And we reckon – if you would care to take a seat (any seat) in one – you will too. Oh no, the Carnival is far from over.
Specifications:
BODY TYPE 5 door MPV
DRIVE Front wheel/8 speed auto
ENGINE TYPE 4-cylinder, CRDi, turbo diesel
ENGINE CAPACITY 2151cc
MAX POWER 148kW
MAX TORQUE 440Nm
L/100KM (COMBINED) 6.5
CO2 EMISSIONS 170 g/km
LOAD CAPACITY 627 – 2785 litres
ANCAP RATING 5 Star
PRICE $74,990
