Kia Carnival sales dominated by diesel
BY MATT CAMPBELL | 17th May 2024
KIA Australia is clearly onto a good thing with the Carnival people-mover, which outsells all the other MPVs in the segments it plays in – combined.
The brand’s 2.2-litre turbo-diesel powertrain is clearly a big reason for this success, the Korean brand’s local arm confirming that, in 2023 at least, the oil-burner versions accounted for a staggering 90 per cent of all Carnival sales.
Some of that has to do with demand, some with supply constraints, and the business has just added a petrol-electric hybrid version to the line-up, which it expects to make up a decent share of sales despite the fact it will be initially exclusive to GT-Line trim at a staggering $76,210 before on-road costs.
For context, the diesel range starts at $52,380 + ORC for the entry-level S, and spans five variants, topping out in GT-Line spec for $72,910 + ORC.
Speaking at the recent Carnival facelift launch, Kia Australia chief operating officer Dennis Piccoli said the brand knows that right now, diesel suits the user case for the Carnival – even if the brand may have had some additional demand for petrol models that could not be fulfilled due to production and demand from the United States market.
“Through 2023, we had some supply considerations we were working through, hence the special editions. Diesel is effectively around 90 per cent of our volume,” said Mr Piccoli.
“I think with the hybrid, (petrol sales) could be more than the 10 per cent of the overflow, it just depends and hinges on supply,” he said.
“At this stage it looks like, for the balance of the year, that it’ll be 60-70 units a month (for the hybrid).
“Negotiations are always ongoing and I think market demand will be better than that,” added Mr Piccoli, who further indicated that the brand expects to sell 800-900 Carnivals per month for the foreseeable future.
Mr Piccoli expects to sell a decent share of Carnivals to both fleet and private customers, and that the breakdown of those figures will sway towards the S for fleets, and the range-topping GT-Line and GT-Line Lite for private buyers.
When asked if the brand had considered dropping the petrol V6 given its apparent minuscule demand in the Australian market, Kia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero said further thought might go into the proliferation of petrol variants in the range (all five trim levels have a V6 petrol choice).
“As always, you respond according to market demand, and if there’s a case for rationalisation then we’ll look at it. And supply (plays a part), but for now it’s the full range,” he said.
What about diesel being considered a ‘dirty’ fuel by some? According to Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith, it is not dead yet and is not going anywhere if people continue to demand it in this sort of application.
“I think that in regards to the nature of diesel in a people-mover, I think there’s a bit of life still left in that,” said Mr Meredith.
Mr Meredith further commented on the importance, more generally, of the Carnival in the brand’s range.
“Carnival has been really important for us as a brand. It’s been a good seller, and sometimes it’s been a great seller,” he said.
“In my view it’s been one of the great three people-movers in the market over a long period of time. The other two that I rate – Tarago and Odyssey – they’re no longer with us,” he said.
“But I think the greatest thing about the Carnival has been its ability to evolve over the years, and it’s always been able to exceed customers’ and families’ needs. And that’s a great thing for us, our customers, and the brand.”
The hybrid version of the Carnival is initially solely offered in GT-Line spec, but the brand has indicated that it intends to offer it across other variants in the future, if supply allows it.
Currently, the hybrid accounts for 70 per cent of sales in the car’s domestic market of South Korea, where the people-mover is the third-best-selling nameplate to the end of April 2024, accounting for 29,560 units year-to-date.
In Australia, Carnival sales have softened ahead of the model update, with a first-four-months sales tally of 2354 units, down 38.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
