MPV Search - Kia Carnival

The Kia Carnival, manufactured at the Dongfeng Yueda Kia joint venture facility, is one of the challengers to Buick's domination of the business class MPV segment. However, I think they have to some extent lost their way. Make no mistake, the car that Kia built is brilliant and a very good MPV offering top notch features for a very competitive prize. However, it is clear that Kia has fallen by the wayside in terms of the quality of their dealerships. I went to three different dealerships and only one had the Kia Carnival on display in their showroom. And that was the dealership at Lianhe Huapeng Car Market (联合华鹏汽车广场) along Shennan Road. No wonder they could not crack the market and only posted average to below average sales for what appears to be a strong and competitive product in a market with strong sales.

A look at the car reveals a standard sized MPV for its class with pretty standard specifications.

Engine: 2.7l V6
Power: 169Kw @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 238 Nm @ 4000 rpm
Top Speed: 180 Km/h
Gas consumption: 7.69L/100km at 90km/h constant speed
Gas tank: 75l
Dimensions: 4930mm long x 1895mm wide x 1760mm high

At the showroom, the car belies its specifications on paper. Like the Buick GL8, the exterior design of the Kia is conservative and relatively characterless. But in the MPV I am looking for, that is precisely what I want. Nothing flamboyant, nothing that screams out at you, and most certainly nothing that looks anything more than anonymous. So the Kia Carnival meets this criteria.



The interior shows plenty of attention to detail as well. The two captain's chairs in the middle row are firm but comfortable. They offer waist seat belt in both middle row seats to cater to child seats, which is a big plus for me. Seat configuration is flexible as expected of an MPV of this class and both passenger rows may be pushed forwards to maximize luggage space. Unfortunately, electric controlled seats are only available for the driver and front passenger. This, to me, strikes me as a gross oversight since in a business MPV such as the Kia Carnival, the most important person on board is usually on the middle row passenger seat. The front row passenger is at most times merely the most junior member on board and the driver in this case is the least important person on board. As such, the bulk of the refinements and luxury should be aimed squarely at the middle row passengers, then the third row passengers and last and least of all, the front row passenger and the driver. A similarly glaring oversight is again present in the safety air bags. The Kia Carnival has only two airbags for the driver and the front passenger. That seems again counter-intuitive to the positioning of the car as a business MPV. Shouldn't the VIPs in the middle row and back row be more heavily protected? Finally, the final oversight and where Kia has clearly started to cut corners is at the sliding doors. Most busniess class MPVs have electronic sliding doors for the convenience and safety of the passengers. The Kia has normal mechanical doors that need to slided manually. The salesman explained that mechanical doors are better since they do not break down as easily as electronic doors and are therefore better for their customers. Yeah right.

In terms of other amenities, the Kia is well equiped. Cubby holes and storage spaces are plentiful. There are also little hooks at the back of the third row seats to hang and secure grocery bags from a supermarket run. Parking sensors and back-up camera are standard issue as is a DVD entertainment system that plays MP3 as well in the fully loaded TOP model.

All in all, the Kia Carnival looks like a great option with a well designed interior. The few shortcomings that I have pointed out are unfortunately also present in most of the Kia's competitors and unless my budget increases accordingly.

While in the showroom, I also spotted the Kia Grand Carnival VQ which is the imported bigger brother of the Kia Carnival. I made an appointment to test drive both the Kia Carnival as well as the Kia Grand Carnival VQ side by side to make a comparison.