Kia Motors Corporation commonly known as Kia Motors, is a South Korean automobile manufacturer, with headquarters in Seoul. It is the second-largest car-making company in South Korea just after Hyundai motor company, with sales of more than three million cars in 2015. It launched its first-ever vehicle Kia Seltos in India, on 22nd August 2019. The car made Kia motors the fifth-largest carmaker in India with sales of more than thirty thousand by the end of 2019.
After the successful launch of its first car, Kia motors is now ready to bring the second one in the game. Kia has launched the Carnival MPV on February 5th at the 2020 Auto Expo.
Kia Carnival is going to be available in 3 trim levels – Premium, Prestige and Limousine.
It will have a BS-6 compliant diesel engine, with a capacity of more than two litres. The Carnival will also come with variable seating options – seven, eight and nine seater. The seven-seater will come with standard captain seats for the middle row or the VIP luxury seats, which means they will have individual lumber support. The eight-seat model will be available with four captain seats, whereas the nine-seat model is going to have six captain seats in a new four-row layout.
Kia Carnival Premium
The Premium trim is the standard base version and comes with a touchscreen infotainment system, with Apple car play and Android Auto. The audio system has four speakers with two tweeters, steering mounted audio controls, cruise control, reverse camera and a smart key with push-button start. Other features include a telescopic adjustment for the steering wheel, dual airbags, electrically adjustable wing mirrors, eighteen-inch crystal cut alloy wheels and anti-lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD). The Kia carnival Premium will be available as either a seven-seater or an eight seater.
Kia Carnival Prestige
Kia Carnival Prestige comes after the standard model and is available in seven and nine-seater options. It is equipped with the signature ‘Ice Cube’ LED fog lights, LED taillights and projector highlights, an electric dual-panel sunroof, electric folding wing mirrors, pop-up sinking seats and chrome accents that give it a futuristic look. Safety features in the Prestige model include side and curtain airbags, front parking sensors, rollover mitigation, electronic stability control and cornering brake control.
Kia Carnival Limousine
At the top, with three trim levels is the Kia Carnival Limousine, which comes only with a seven-seater option. Luxury VIP seats with Napa-leather upholstery will come as standard in the Limousine. The steering wheel and gear knob are also leather-wrapped. In addition, wood-finished garnishing, eighteen-inch ‘sputtering’ design alloy wheels and a tyre-pressure monitoring- system are some of the features provided in this model. The entertainment system will have inbuilt navigation and the UVO connected car technology, which is similar to the Kia Seltos and free for the first three years.
Apart from these the Kia Carnival Limousine is filled to the brim with equipment such as Harmon Kadron 8-speaker sound system, air purifier, three-zone auto climate control, powered sliding doors and 10-way adjustable driver’s seat with ventilation. It is also equipped with wireless phone charging, smart-watch connectivity and two ten-inch touch-screens each, for the passengers in the rear seats.
Under the hood is a 2.2-litre, BS6-compliant diesel engine that puts out 200hp at 3,800rpm and 440Nm of torque between 1,500-2,750rpm. The 2.2 diesel is mated to an 8-speed ‘Sport-matic’ automatic gearbox, and is significantly more powerful than the 2.4-litre unit that’s the sole diesel option available with the BS6-spec Toyota Innova Crysta. This engine will also make the Carnival the most powerful MPV on sale in India.
Bookings for the Kia carnival are unofficially underway. After the launch, the Carnival is expected to have a starting price of twenty-six lakhs for the base Premium version. Au contraire, the price for the range-topping Kia Carnival Limousine is predicted to cross the thirty lakh mark. It’s rival, the Toyota Innova Crysta retails at a price between fifteen lakhs to twenty-one lakhs for the petrol version and sixteen lakhs to twenty-two lakhs for the diesel version. Though it is to be noted that the prices of Toyota’s Innova Crysta will increase once it gets a BS-6 compliant engine.
The luxury MPV space in our country has been dominated solely by the Toyota Innova and its upgrades over the last two decades. There have been brief indications of challenges thrown at it by the likes of Renault’s Lodgy and the Nissan Evalia, neither could come even close to giving the Innova any significant competition. Though it is an extremely practical and well accepted car, it would be nice to have a fresh new option to look at. In addition, Kia’s design language does make its vehicles a lot more attractive than the ones Toyota has to offer.
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