2024 Kia Carnival: Everything we know

November 8: 2024 Kia Carnival revealed in full

Following last month's official but rather lightweight reveal, the new-look 2024 Kia Carnival has been given its proper unveiling – along with the confirmation of a number of Australian-market details. Get the full story at the link below.

October 27: New-look Carnival officially debuts

After images surfaced earlier this week, the facelifted 2024 Kia Carnival has officially debuted in Korea.

The updated Carnival is expected to hit the Australian market in the first half of 2024.

Kia has confirmed that it will add a 1.6 turbo hybrid variant to the Carnival line-up, though it's still unclear whether it will become available in Australia.

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Among the changes, the people mover now sports redesigned vertical headlights, 'signature star map' daytime running lamps, a broader front grille, a new front bumper, vertical tail-lights with a slimmer full-width strip, a revised tailgate and rear bumper, and new alloy wheel designs.

A Gravity trim has also been introduced in South Korea, featuring blacked-out exterior trim.

While no specification details or interior images have been released yet, Kia is expected to provide more information in the coming weeks.

Our earlier story, below, continues unchanged.

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October 23: 2024 Kia Carnival facelift leaked

The facelifted 2024 Kia Carnival has leaked.

Images posted to Instagram by Kurdistan Automotive Blog [↗] reveal the updated Carnival will receive a new look with Kia’s latest design language, as seen on the EV9, Sorento, Seltos and Picanto.

Up front, the Carnival features redesigned vertical headlights, ‘signature star map’ daytime running lamps, a broader front grille, and a new front bumper.

Other revisions include new, vertical tail-lights with a slimmer full-width strip, a redesigned tailgate and rear bumper, and a new alloy wheel design.

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Image: 2024 Kia Carnival facelift leak, courtesy Kurdistan Automotive Blog

The Korean Car Blog [↗] reports the eight-seat Carnival to adopt a curved panel with dual 12.3-inch displays likely running Hyundai-Kia’s new ccNC operating system, a head-up display, a fingerprint sensor, ‘ergo motion’ seats, and the semi-autonomous Highway Driving Assist 2 system.

Other features available overseas, but missing from local Carnival examples, such as rain-sensing wipers and the blind-spot view camera system are likely to be added at facelift time.

A hybrid powertrain shared with the Sorento is also likely, pairing a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine with a 40kW electric motor and 1.5kWh lithium-ion battery for a 169kW/350Nm total system output.

Kia’s Sohari plant was re-tooled this year to facilitate the manufacture of electrified Carnivals as production of the Stinger sedan winds down.

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Image: 2024 Kia Carnival facelift leak, courtesy Kurdistan Automotive Blog

The updated 2024 Kia Carnival is expected to debut in South Korea in the coming weeks.

Local deliveries are due in 2024. It is currently unclear if the Carnival Hybrid will be sold in Australia.

VFACTS new-car sales data reveals the Kia Carnival is Australia’s number-one people mover with 8745 registrations year-to-date, far ahead of the Hyundai Staria (886), Volkswagen Caravelle/Multivan (851) and LDV Mifa (308).

It has even outsold most three-row large family SUVs, including the Toyota Kluger (8016), the related Sorento (7177), Mazda CX-9 (4226), Hyundai Palisade (2754) and Nissan Pathfinder (1185).

Below: The current 2023 Kia Carnival