The India-bound Kia Carnival, spotted for the first time, will come to India next year.

The extensively revised version of the Kia Carnival has been spotted for the first time in Korea, ahead of its likely global debut next month.

Kia Motor India plugged the sales of the luxury people mover in April 2023 due to the revised emission norms, which it could not meet because it came to India as a completely knocked down (CKD) model, but now it is scheduled to return to the Indian market in 2024 and will shortly make its world premiere in addition to its impending arrival here. Recent spy photos from Korea show the Carnival that is scheduled to visit India, providing us with a sneak peek at the MPV's updated design.

The existing Kia Carnival has been on sale in global markets since 2020, and now the carmaker is going to give it a thorough makeover. The Carnival, which was on sale in India, was majorly refreshed way back in 2014, which was the third generation of the car, but its fourth generation was never made in India. The fourth-generation Carnival was larger in dimension compared to the previous car. It is also called the Grand Carnival in some markets.

Now the fourth generation gets its mid-life facelift and minor design tweaks.

Updated Design

The updated Carnival is seen with an L-shaped headlamp design with matching daytime running lamps and a more erect nose with a wide grille. There are shards of chrome all over the grille, and the front bumper is smooth and has no creases or cuts in it. The MPV has a premium appearance thanks to a small air intake below and a faux-brushed aluminum skid plate surrounding it.

At the rear of the car too, the design language is very cohesive with the front, and the vertical tail lamps mimic the front L-shaped head lights. In usual Kia and Hyundai fashion, the rear lights are connected and illuminated.

The car also features additional chrome padding on the doors, and the alloy wheels are quite fancy. It matches the design philosophy of the brand's new electric SUVs, like the EV5 and EV9.

Inside, there will be several seating options in addition to a refreshed dashboard and technology. The Carnival will receive redesigned seats from the brand’s other superior SUVs, like the EV9, and additional features like twin curved displays for infotainment and instrumentation and safety technology like ADAS are also being discussed.

Enigne Option

In the global market, Carnival gets as many as four engine options, of which three are petrol and one is diesel. The 2.2-liter CRDi diesel is expected to be carried forward for the Indian market, but we also expect that a petol option will also be offered, going by the market trend.

The 2.2-liter CRDi produces a healthy 200 hp of peak power and 440 Nm of peak torque. It will probably get only an 8-speed gearbox option because manual would not make sense for such a large car.