KIA Australia is clearly onto a great factor with the Carnival people-mover, which outsells all the opposite MPVs within the segments it performs in – mixed.
The model’s 2.2-litre turbo-diesel powertrain is clearly a giant motive for this success, the Korean model’s native arm confirming that, in 2023 at the least, the oil-burner variations accounted for a staggering 90 per cent of all Carnival gross sales.
A few of that has to do with demand, some with provide constraints, and the enterprise has simply added a petrol-electric hybrid model to the line-up, which it expects to make up an honest share of gross sales regardless of the very fact it is going to be initially unique to GT-Line trim at a staggering $76,210 earlier than on-road prices.
For context, the diesel vary begins at $52,380 + ORC for the entry-level S, and spans 5 variants, topping out in GT-Line spec for $72,910 + ORC.
Talking on the current Carnival facelift launch, Kia Australia chief working officer Dennis Piccoli stated the model is aware of that proper now, diesel fits the consumer case for the Carnival – even when the model could have had some extra demand for petrol fashions that might not be fulfilled attributable to manufacturing and demand from the USA market.
“By 2023, we had some provide concerns we have been working by, therefore the particular editions. Diesel is successfully round 90 per cent of our quantity,” stated Mr Piccoli.
“I believe with the hybrid, (petrol gross sales) may very well be greater than the ten per cent of the overflow, it simply relies upon and hinges on provide,” he stated.
“At this stage it seems to be like, for the stability of the yr, that it’ll be 60-70 models a month (for the hybrid).
“Negotiations are all the time ongoing and I believe market demand shall be higher than that,” added Mr Piccoli, who additional indicated that the model expects to promote 800-900 Carnivals monthly for the foreseeable future.
Mr Piccoli expects to promote an honest share of Carnivals to each fleet and personal prospects, and that the breakdown of these figures will sway in direction of the S for fleets, and the range-topping GT-Line and GT-Line Lite for personal consumers.
When requested if the model had thought of dropping the petrol V6 given its obvious minuscule demand within the Australian market, Kia basic supervisor of product planning Roland Rivero stated additional thought would possibly go into the proliferation of petrol variants within the vary (all 5 trim ranges have a V6 petrol selection).
“As all the time, you reply in line with market demand, and if there’s a case for rationalisation then we’ll have a look at it. And provide (performs a component), however for now it’s the total vary,” he stated.
What about diesel being thought of a ‘soiled’ gasoline by some? Based on Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith, it’s not lifeless but and isn’t going wherever if folks proceed to demand it on this form of software.
“I believe that regarding the nature of diesel in a people-mover, I believe there’s a little bit of life nonetheless left in that,” stated Mr Meredith.
Mr Meredith additional commented on the significance, extra typically, of the Carnival within the model’s vary.
“Carnival has been actually vital for us as a model. It’s been a great vendor, and typically it’s been an ideal vendor,” he stated.
“In my opinion it’s been one of many nice three people-movers available in the market over a protracted time frame. The opposite two that I charge – Tarago and Odyssey – they’re now not with us,” he stated.
“However I believe the best factor in regards to the Carnival has been its capability to evolve through the years, and it’s all the time been in a position to exceed prospects’ and households’ wants. And that’s an ideal factor for us, our prospects, and the model.”
The hybrid model of the Carnival is initially solely supplied in GT-Line spec, however the model has indicated that it intends to supply it throughout different variants sooner or later, if provide permits it.
At the moment, the hybrid accounts for 70 per cent of gross sales within the automotive’s home market of South Korea, the place the people-mover is the third-best-selling nameplate to the tip of April 2024, accounting for 29,560 models year-to-date.
In Australia, Carnival gross sales have softened forward of the mannequin replace, with a first-four-months gross sales tally of 2354 models, down 38.5 per cent in comparison with the identical interval in 2023.
