Kia showed the updated Carnival minivan and announced the expansion of its range

As before, at home, the Korean MPV will be available with gasoline and diesel engines, and a hybrid will accompany the “traditional” cars.

After numerous spy photos and unofficial renderings (by the way, the designer of Kolesa.ru also contributed), the Kia brand itself finally revealed the appearance of the updated Carnival minivan. Let us remind you that the current fourth generation MPV with the factory designation KA4 has been in service since 2020; it shares a platform with the current Kia Sorento. The leap in terms of design compared to the previous van turned out to be colossal; for the “fourth” Carnival they even came up with the Grand Utility Vehicle (GUV) category: they say that the exterior features features inherent in an SUV. In its native Korea, the minivan is in high demand. At the end of last year, the Kia Carnival took fifth place among all models sold there (including light trucks) with a result of 59,058 units, and in January-September 2023, more than 54,000 units were already sold on the home market. So won't the new corporate identity scare away buyers?

Updated Kia Carnival 1/4 Updated Kia Carnival 2/4 Updated Kia Carnival 3/4 Updated Kia Carnival 4/4

The main new thing is optics. The headlights were made vertical, with additional “eyebrows” of running lights on top. The rear lights have also become fanged; in addition, their pattern echoes the filling of the lights of the just declassified restyled Kia K5 sedan. The minivan also received a new radiator grille, bumpers and tailgate. In addition, the rear license plate has been moved lower. In the homeland of Kia, buyers will also be offered an expensive version of Gravity, its features are the original grille and wheels, extended dark decor.

Updated Kia Carnival, version Gravity 1/3 Updated Kia Carnival, version Gravity 2/3 Updated Kia Carnival, Gravity 3/3 version

It is not yet known whether the new body kit has affected the dimensions of the Kia Carnival. The length of the pre-reform van (in Korean specification) is 5155 mm, width – 1995 mm, height – 1775 mm, wheelbase – 3090 mm.

The interior will be shown separately. However, they probably installed a single curved display inside, and they could also replace the climate control unit. In Korea, the Kia Carnival comes with 7, 9 or 11 seats. The pre-reform minivan also has a four-seater VIP version: most likely, it will remain in the range.

Updated Kia Carnival

On the domestic market, the model, as before, will be available with gasoline and diesel engines. The characteristics of the engines of the restyled van have not yet been revealed — probably the technology is the same. We are talking about an aspirated V6 3.5 GDI and a 2.2 CRDi turbodiesel with a power of 294 and 194 hp. Accordingly, both are combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission, front-wheel drive only. Moreover, after restyling, the Kia Carnival will also be offered for the first time as a hybrid with an installation based on a 1.6 petrol turbo engine (details about the filling of the hybrid van will appear later).

Pre-reform Kia Carnival 1/5 Pre-reform Kia Carnival 2/5 Pre-reform Kia Carnival 3/5 Pre-reform new Kia Carnival 4/5 Pre-reform Kia Carnival 5/5

The full premiere of the updated MPV will be held in Korea in November.