Kia is expected to launch the updated Carnival sometime next year. The current-gen luxury MPV was discontinued as it had reached its end of life cycle (EOL).
The fourth-gen Kia Carnival is expected to be launched in India as per media reports. This will be the facelift version and not the one showcased at the 2023 Auto Expo. Kia India CEO has confirmed that the Indian market will receive the latest model range.
Kia did showcase the KA4. This was not called Carnival as the 3rd-gen car was still on sale in India. The KA4 has been on sale in the international markets for three years. Hence, it will get a mid-life cycle update soon. Kia plans to bring this to India next year.
The facelift version is already seen testing in Korea. The prominent highlights include new styling changes. Some of these include connected tail lamps, Start Map lighting and overall exterior design elements in line with other Kia models.
Apart from the design changes, the updated Carnival will get more features and will be loaded with technology. Hence, Kia might get the car using CKD rather than as a CBU. But, customers can expect a significant price hike as compared to the 3rd-gen model which was sold for around INR 30 lakh in India.
As such, there are no direct rivals to the Carnival in India. But buyers are likely to cross shop with the new Innova Hycross, Maruti Invicto, and Toyota Fortuner. The Toyota Vellfire too is in this segment, but it is positioned 2-3X higher than the Carnival.
Kia has laid out its future development plans for India. Dubbed as the Kia 2.0 strategy, the plan includes a target of acquiring a 10-percent market share in the next few years. Alongside, Kia will bring in new models including the likes of the EV9 and other ICE vehicles.
On the service side of things, Kia aims to double its existing touchpoints to 600. This move will help the Korean carmaker to increase its share as well as volume of cars sold in the region.
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