Though Kia might be a brand brimming with brand new electric propositions, it’s clear that there is still a focus on its traditional models, with an updated Carnival passenger van being spotted in Korea.
Images of this new Carnival have surfaced less than one month after Kia confirmed that Stinger production was coming to an end, and it seems that this new Carnival will be taking the sports sedan place at the Sohari production plant.
Likely to land in Australia in hybrid form, this new Carnival will occupy a niche hybrid-powered people mover segment, sitting between the traditional Honda Odyssey, and Volkswagen’s upcoming all-electric ID Buzz.
A fresh face looks to be the main change on this new Carnival
What’s new on this next-generation Carnival?
Published by Korean Car Blog, the images show the next-generation Kia Carnival wearing reasonably heavy camouflage, but even so, it’s obvious that it’s undergone a visual update.
This new front fascia on the Carnival looks most similar to what we’ve already seen on the Kia EV9, with a pair of large vertical headlights at either side.
Despite the updated front end, it doesn’t look like any significant changes have been made to the rest of the van.
Kia’s next-generation people mover is likely to get hybrid power
What will power this new Kia Carnival?
Nothing is yet confirmed for the Carnival hybrid, but sharing a powertrain with the Sorento hybrid would be the most likely outcome. This would mean that it’ll get a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine that’s paired with an electric motor for combined outputs of 132kW/265Nm.
This would also open up the opportunity for Kia to produce a plug-in hybrid variant of the Carnival, which would be something that gives buyers PHEV options outside the SUV realm.
