Kia’s minivan will get revised styling, extra options and a brand new hybrid drivetrain.
Kia is freshening its Carnival minivan for the 2025 mannequin 12 months, and the South Korean automaker confirmed it for the primary time on the 2024 Chicago Auto Present. Together with exterior and inside design updates, patrons can even be capable of buy a gasoline/electrical hybrid model.
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2025 Kia Carnival
You gained’t discover the phrase “minivan” wherever on the model’s media or shopper web sites. As a substitute. the automaker adopts the “Multi-Objective Automobile” (MPV) moniker to explain the Carnival. The present era has been obtainable in international markets since 2020, although it didn’t arrive in North America till the 2022 mannequin 12 months. Whereas not as standard because the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, or Toyota Sienna, Kia managed to promote practically 44,000 models in calendar 2023. Firm executives say Carnival attracts the youngest patrons within the section, with 75 % coming from different manufacturers.
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Exterior styling modifications for 2025 embrace a bigger entrance grille with vertically oriented headlights and amber-colored daytime working lights. The rear is new with a lightweight bar spanning the liftgate and a lower-mounted license plate.
The cabin is accessible with totally digital instrumentation, together with a digital gauge cluster and infotainment display screen every measuring 12.3 inches. A driver head-up show is a newly optionally available characteristic, together with an obtainable digital camera show built-in into the rearview mirror. Seven USB-C energy factors can be found throughout all three seating rows, and one of many extra considerate touches are illuminated seatbelt buckles, which can make them simpler to search out at nighttime.
Voice management will get expanded to incorporate management over most of the automobile’s consolation and leisure methods. The driving force, entrance passenger, and second-row occupants can use the set off phrase “Hey Kia” and do issues like alter the local weather management, roll down the home windows, or activate the massaging seats which are obtainable as a part of the optionally available VIP Lounge Seat Package deal. Over-the-air software program updates can add options and repair glitches without having to go to a vendor, and Carnival will supply Kia’s Digital Key 2.0 that replaces the keyfob with an app on the proprietor’s smartphone.
Typical gasoline fashions retain a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 287 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque and an 8-speed computerized transmission. The brand new hybrid variant pairs a 54-kW electrical motor with a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Whole output is 242 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque, with the transmission being a 6-speed computerized. Different hybrid-specific options embrace “E-Dealing with” that’s supposed to enhance responsiveness when cornering and “E-Evasive Dealing with Help” that’s supposed to regulate automobile motion throughout emergency maneuvers.
Accessible trim ranges for the gasoline and hybrid Carnival will embrace LXS, EX, SX, and SX Status. There can even be a base LX model for the gas-only mannequin. Pricing will likely be introduced nearer to the 2025 Carnival’s summer season 2024 on-sale date.
CG Says:
Carnival makes a compelling case as a minivan with a broad vary of enchantment, from these desire a fundamental individuals hauler to these craving luxury-class facilities. These fundamentals don’t change for 2025, and the addition of a extra frugal hybrid model ought to assist it develop into much more standard.
2025 Kia Carnival Gallery
(Click on under for enlarged photos)
