Kia Carnival is an MPV from the house of Kia Motors. It is an entry-level luxury MPV. It was first brought to India in its 3rd gen avatar, by showcasing it at the Auto Expo 2020, and later launching it at the price of ₹30 lakhs. 

At this price, it did not have any such competition back then. But, Indians were not that comfortable spending ₹30 lakhs on an MPV, because there was already one product that was attracting the Indian audience a lot.

It was none other than, the Toyota Innova Crysta. The Innova Crysta back then was available at a price of ₹23 - 25 lakhs. And this was enough to make the Indian audience drive against the Kia Carnival. Though Kia Carnival was proving itself better than the Innova Crysta by providing a slew of features, still Indian buyers were neglecting the Carnival for one simple reason - 

The Indian viewpoint towards an MPV was different back then. Their perspective towards an MPV was that it should just have enough ability to drive them from place A to place B, comfortably, which made them not care about features much. And with this mindset, the Kia Carnival ended up standing over the edge of the market. Therefore, this situation made Kia discontinue the Carnival in the month of July 2023.

But, now with recent updates and a few presumptions, we can confirm that Kia Motors will be relaunching the Kia Carnival in India. This relaunch could take place in the coming year 2024. And this time, the chances are high and strong that it could perform better than what it did the last time. 

So, let’s jump into the details of the upcoming 2024 Kia Carnival.

About the 2024 Kia Carnival

The 2024 Kia Carnival enters its 4th Generation and has already been launched in a few International markets, It was also showcased in the recent Indian Auto Expo 2023. And with respect to the details gained from the reviews from International markets, we can say that the MPV will be completely 'redesigned' and 'restructured', which will also make it leave all the flaws it had in it previously.

Exterior Design

The Exterior design is a clear example of the ‘redesigned’ and ‘restructured’ statement. The exterior of the car has adopted a new design language, where the old Carnival had some curvy edges, this one strikes them with straight sharp lines. This adds the 2024 Kia Carnival to the new-age Kia Design. 

With this design language, we can also notice that the brand is somewhat trying to add the SUV quotient in the 2024 Kia Carnival, and that is commendable.

Front Profile

Diving more deeply into the design changes, the front grille has been changed completely with Hyundai-like dark-chromed block elements, although the grille still has that tiger-nose shape in it, which helps it to distinguish itself. The grille elements also kind of merge with the LED headlamps. The LED DRLs on the other hand have received the typical Kia affair, where the DRL strip has got a stylish look, as it runs through the grille till the headlamps.

Side Profile

The side has also received a significant change in its look, where the C-pillar resembles more of an SUV trait as it has been highlighted with the silver design element. The wheels have been upsized and chosen correctly to add more of a modern design touch, as it runs on 19-inch Diamond cut Alloy wheels. Though the main talk-point of the side profile is the ‘automated sliding doors’, they have been carried forward in the 4th gen as well.

Rear Profile

The rear has been kept similar to the 3rd gen Carnival, though with modern design adaptations. The rear still is a straight 90-degree cut, and it has been purposely done to give it the SUV look from behind. The rear-view window occupies a smaller area of the rear profile giving the rest of the metal body more space, thus helping to add a bold and tall stance. The tail light has a trendy design pattern which is, a straight LED bar running from one edge to the other. 

Interior Design

The Interior gets new-age technologically advanced and stylish, features and design changes respectively. Starting with The dashboard, it has been given a minimal vibe by merging both - the Infotainment screen and the Instrument Cluster in one long piece of glass. The center console has been given some practical bits like physically operated buttons for Media and a lot of cubby spaces to store your belongings. The Drive selector stick is chunky and has a premium look and feel to it. Rest all the mechanical operatives like the Electronic Parking Brake, Auto Hold, Drive mode selector, etc. have been placed around the gear stick.

The car comes with various seating options. It can be opted for with a total of 4 options, starting with 6-seaters, 7-seaters, 8-seaters, and a 9-seater. When opted for an 8-seater version the second row of seats which consists of bench seats can be rotated and placed facing in the opposite direction, which sort of gives a ‘conference room feeling’.

The interior will be offering one more special feature, which is dual sunroofs. This is a feature which is loved by the Indians a lot and we have already spotted a dual sunroof setup within the car.

Features

Being a car from the Hyundai-Kia Group, this car will definitely get a feature-rich package on offer. Various technologically advanced features will be used to differentiate this car and to make it stand apart & unique. Well, we can give assurance to some of those features which will be given in the car, like -

• ADAS - High chances - Level 2 / Low chances - Level 3

• Dual connected screens - Both Driver’s display and Infotainment system

• 12.3-inch Infotainment screen

• Kia Connect - 66 features remotely operated features

• Dual zone Climate control system

• Smart powered Tailgate - Gesture and remote opening 

• Voice Assistant

And many more….

Powertrain

The 2024 Kia Carnival is speculated to be launched in India with a single powertrain option. This powertrain will be running on Diesel and will be producing 200 PS of max power. We expect that the same 2.2 L Diesel engine will be launched with the 2024 Kia Carnival.

Price & Launch

The Price of the 2024 Kia Carnival will surely be inflated, with respect to the amount of features on offer and Kia might as well place this car a segment above, than what it was available in India previously. Thus, all these factors might get us an increased price tag for the Carnival, which is expected to be close to ₹40 - 45 lakhs.

The Launch of this car as said earlier might be taking place in the coming year 2024. Exact time period could not be presumed, though an approximate assumption is that it could get launched either in the First Quarter ( Q1 ) or the Second Quarter ( Q2 ) of the year 2024.

Opinion

We expect a comparatively great start for this car after its launch. The market has evolved in the past 2-3 years because of this the ‘value for money’ aspect has taken a huge leap in their mindset. And the 2024 Kia Carnival will provide great value to its customers and this might help the car to eat a bit of the SUV-dominated price segment in which it is in. But, if Kia looks forward to creating a monopoly over there, then it will be interesting to watch as the undefeated Toyota Fortuner will be standing its way!