The new Kia Carnival has barely touched down in Australia, but it’s already getting updated.
Kia Australia has confirmed the 2022 Carnival will touch down in August with a raft of features missing from the car launched late last year.
Headlining the inclusions is the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and Kia’s blind-spot view monitor, as seen on the 2021 Sorento.
Rain-sensing wipers will also be added to the Carnival when the update arrives Down Under.
It’s not yet clear whether the 2022 Kia Carnival will have the same Korean-developed steering tune as the current model, or whether it will get an Australian tune.
Kia Australia says development of an Australian-specific “steering map is dependant on COVID border/travel restrictions lifting”, and couldn’t confirm timing.
The current Kia Carnival interior
The company was forced to end local testing early when COVID-19 lockdowns were implemented last year, restricting the movement of engineers.
“I can’t even guarantee the steering at this stage. That’s highly dependent on the borders being open and engineers coming to visit us,” said Kia Australia product planning head Roland Rivero earlier this year.
“There’s nothing wrong or terribly wrong with the current set-up. I think the Korean domestic steering map is actually pretty good, it’s got good differentiation and gives you good feel and feedback
“Nevertheless, we still want to create our own.”
Along with the full feature set, the 2022 Carnival will feature Kia’s redesigned badge.
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