The latest Kia Carnival has been missing some of its premium features and safety systems in Australia, and it seems local buyers will have to wait a bit longer.
Speaking with CarExpert, a spokesperson for Kia Australia confirmed the ‘MY22’ Carnival line-up will arrive in September, largely unchanged with the exception of Kia’s new logo.
However, the vehicles landing in a couple months’ time won’t offer the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, Blind Spot View Monitor side camera system or rain-sensing wipers as originally promised as part of the build year changes.
These features, as well as a potential change to a local steering tune, will be introduced at a later date – though Kia hasn’t confirmed exactly when.
It’s worth noting the digital instruments and blind-spot cameras are likely to be reserved for the top-spec Carnival Platinum, and should become available as a running production change in the coming months. Expect an ‘MY22.5’ update either very late this year or early in 2022.
This latest update is contrary to previous announcements that the Carnival’s feature list would be amended in August in line with the logo change. Further, Kia offers most of the Carnival’s missing content in the latest Sorento GT-Line.
However, ongoing issues with production delays and supply shortages continue to plague the Korean brand, with waiting lists for some models – particularly high-specced variants – stretching more than 6-8 months.
Kia’s local arm also recently confirmed the Sorento Hybrid – originally promised before the end of 2021 – won’t hit local showrooms until the first quarter of 2022.
The Sorento Plug-in Hybrid is still on track to arrive in September with the brand’s new logo.
Despite its challenges, Kia Australia has been steadily growing its sales in 2021, up 43.2 per cent year-to-date (YTD) to 37,894 registrations nationally as of June 30.
It’s currently fourth overall, snapping at the heels of parent Hyundai (38,634 sales YTD).
In terms of individual model lines, the Picanto, Stinger and Carnival all lead their respective segments by some margin, with the recently-updated Cerato third on the podium of the ever-competitive Small Passenger segment.
Were you holding off buying a Kia Carnival to get the additional features?
MORE: Everything Kia Carnival
