Grand Carnival here next month
BY MARTON PETTENDY | 23rd Dec 2005
The new Grand Carnival will join the South Korean car-maker's local line-up in January, available alongide Kia's top-selling seven-seater Carnival, which continues on sale at the same $29,990.
Grand Carnival, which debuted at the Detroit motor show last January, comes equipped with a 3.8-litre V6 - up from the 2.5-litre version that powers the current Carnival, which attracts a dominant 29.7 per cent share of the Australian people mover market.
Kia Automotive Australia says Grand Carnival will allow the company to increase this market share by attracting buyers from large commercial vehicle-based people-movers, most of which are more expensive.
"The new Kia Carnival may be bigger in every way than the existing Carnival, from an engine that is more than 30 per cent bigger to an interior that is positively vast and a standard equipment list that is longer than any child’s Christmas wish list, but doesn’t mean we have lost sight of what has made the Carnival a unique success in the Australian car industry," said Dinesh Chinnappa, general manager of Kia Automotive Australia.
"Value for money – both a superb price and a high standard equipment level – drove the original Kia Carnival to top of the sales charts. The new Grand Carnival will offer the same value in the upper sector of the people-mover market and it will be the new benchmark in its class."