Cars News

Kia Compact SUV And Carnival MPV To Debut At 2020 Auto Expo

Published by
Surendhar M

Kia QYI compact SUV rivalling Vitara Brezza and Venue could be showcased in pre-production form before going on sale in July 2020

Kia Motor India Limited will be bringing in the Carnival as its second model for the domestic market according to a recent report emerged on the internet. It will go up against Toyota Innova Crysta in the premium MPV segment and has bigger dimensions and more upmarket features list than the top-selling model from its Japanese counterpart.

The Carnival will be manufactured at Kia’s production facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and have its domestic launch at the 2020 Auto Expo. The report went on to say that the deliveries of the Carnival will commence in the same month of February 2020. Kia is in the midst of introducing a new generation Carnival globally but the existing model will come to India.

As previously speculated, the third model from Kia will be a compact SUV codenamed QYI. The South Korean auto major is riding on the success of the Seltos as the mid-size SUV has received tremendous reception with more than 50,000 bookings already. The compact SUV will sit below the Seltos in the lineup and it will rival Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300, Honda WR-V and others in the hotly contested space.

At the 2020 Auto Expo, the QYI will be showcased in its conceptual or pre-production form reportedly and it will go on sale in July that year. The Carnival or Sedona as called in the US market gained a facelift for 2019 but the version bound for the domestic market will have specific design changes, higher trim levels and be more upscale according to the report.

Some of the expected features in the India-spec Kia Carnival are an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, multiple airbags, electrically operable sliding rear doors, a whole host of safety and driver-assistive technologies among others. It can be had in either a seven- or an eight-seat layout.

Kia Compact SUV Rendering

As for the powertrain, the MPV will use a 2.2-litre diesel unit connected to an automatic transmission as standard. We can expect the Kia QYI to have plenty in common with the top-selling Hyundai Venue including the engine lineup and the features on offer. Kia will be targetting high volumes with the QXI and it could be exported elsewhere in the due course.

Published by
Surendhar M