Putting other ‘minivans’ on notice?
Don’t call it a minivan — wait, where have I heard that before? (Click the link, trust me it’s worth your time).
Anyway, this silhouette is the 2022 Kia Carnival, the replacement for the outgoing Sedona. It’s not a minivan, nor is it apparently a “Grand Utility Vehicle”, as Kia inexplicably tried to pitch the South Korean version last year. The company’s going with multipurpose vehicle (MPV) this time, which arguably hits the mark a bit more accurately. Kia says the Carnival follows the same “bold and boxy appearance” that defines the Telluride, Sorento and Seltos crossovers, but offers an alternative to those options without using the “m” word.
As far as styling is concerned, you have a pretty good idea if you saw the South Korean debut. The U.S. version will likely sport some minor changes to comply with federal regulations. On the whole, though, the teaser isn’t showing us much we don’t already know.
That said, we do have a useful piece of information specifically for the U.S. market. Apart from a claimed “best-in-class cargo volume” and a host of driver assistance tech, the 2022 Kia Carnival will pack a 290 horsepower V6 in this market. While their statement doesn’t go into more details, we can safely assume it will use the same 3.8-liter V6 engine as the Telluride. That means 14 more horsepower and torque bump over the old Sedona. Like both models, we also expect the engine in the Carnival to mate to an eight-speed automatic transmission. One question mark, though, is whether Kia will offer all-wheel drive. If it does, then the only rival left in the segment without the feature would be the Honda Odyssey.
Fortunately, we don’t have too much longer to wait for answers. The 2022 Kia Carnival will officially make its U.S. debut on Tuesday, February 23 at 11:00 AM PST.
