The other car facelift has been caught partying in the snow, and all signs point to a dramatic restructuring of Australia’s most famous populace.
At the front there is a new headlight cluster arranged vertically. It’s customary to have a separate horizontal LED strip near the bonnet edge, but we can’t see any clues to this through the prototype’s camouflage.
The front bumper also gets a new grille and a revised lower air intake design. The overall Festival and greenhouse profile was not changed as part of the update.
At the rear there is a new hockey-shaped taillight cluster that protrudes from the camouflage. Thanks to the cover, we can’t tell for sure if they’ll flow into a strip of red plastic that extends the width of the tailgate.
The license plate holder is now further down the rear door, closer to the rear bumper.
All the exterior changes bring the Carnival’s design closer to Kia’s other full-size models, including the three-row version. Telluride crossovers, and coming all-electric EV9.
With much of the dashboard covered, we can’t see what Kia has in store for the cabin.
It is possible that the interior will receive a less radical change than the exterior. The only thing we’ve been able to spot, so far, is a large horizontal plate that houses the instrument display and touchscreen infotainment system.
At the very least, these devices will have the company’s latest operating system and graphics packages.
Reports say Carnival will get the hybrid powertrain used in Sorento And Hyundai Santa Fe.
The setting used in those crossovers produces a total of 169kW And 350Nm by sandwiching a 44kW/264Nm electric motor between a six-speed automatic transmission and a 132kW/265Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder.
In terms of power, it puts a hybrid between the 148kW/440Nm 2.2-litre turbo-diesel and the 216kW/355Nm 3.5-litre V6.
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Current Kia Carnival -
Carnival continues to dominate the passenger car segment in Australia with 8054 units sold in 2022.
By stopping both Honda Odyssey and the passenger car version of the LDV G10, Carnival accounts for 73.3% of the passenger car segment under $60,000.
Even taking into account MPVs over $60,000, Carnival sales accounted for 66.9% of all passenger vehicles sold locally last year.
THAN: Everything Kia Carnival
