Kia Carnival News

Don’t hold your breath for the next-generation Kia Telluride. Plans for the rugged-looking, three-row, monocoque-bodied big SUV that saved the company (and its dealer network) in North America seem to have permanently stalled for Australia, and for the second time since the series’ debut six years ago. But why the rejection?

The latest safety assessment results released by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) have confirmed maximum five-star results for a trio of recent arrivals - the Kia Carnival, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Skoda Superb.

Kia has just made a surprise confirmation that its new Tasman ute is currently being evaluated by police forces around Australia, and that had us thinking: what police vehicles are out there that aren’t the usual suspects?That's right, we're not talking police versions of the Kia Sorento, nor the Hyundai Tucson, or the Volkswagen Passat and Tiguan. We mean the left-of-field police cars. The ones you really might not have known were out there on the roads.So, with a little bit of help from Australian Police Vehicles Facebook group, here are our top five favourite police cars you might not have seen coming. Hyundai’s big eight-seater SUV is doing some undercover work for Victoria Police. This one spotted recently by Issacc Brown from IB Emergency Photography in the regional Victorian town of Sale happens to be the Calligraphy Black Ink edition of the Palisade. Exclusive to the Calligraphy Black Ink edition are 20-inch black glossy alloy wheels, tough looking dark-tinted radiator grille and black suede seats inside. The Palisade comes with two drivetrains and all-wheel drive which is powered by a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder turbo diesel or a front-wheel drive variant which uses a 3.8-litre V6 petrol. Oooh! NSW Police has got themselves a Chevrolet Suburban RST and this one spotted and snapped by Clinton J Down Photography is serving with the Tactical Operations Unit TOU. The RST grade means the large SUV comes with a 5.3-litre petrol V8, air suspension, 22-inch alloy wheels and luxurious interior features.The TOU role is “the safe resolution of high risk situations without loss of life, injury to persons or damage to property.”While this unmarked SUV is doing its best not to be noticed it’s hard not to miss something so enormous and rare on our roads.The Northern Territory Police are using an unmarked Ford F-150 as seen here snapped by an anonymous poster to the Australian Police Vehicles Facebook.While this full-sized American pickup truck is so large it almost blocks out the sun, it’s looking pretty inconspicuous as a police vehicle. The giveaways that this F-150 is serving on the force are the tiny LED emergency lights integrated subtly into the grille. You’d never know… well, almost.From what we can see this looks like the XLT grade which comes with a 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol engine and part-time four-wheel drive.Here’s one Kia kept quiet - Tasmania’s police has a Carnival people mover on its force as seen here in a photo taken by Taliesan Sharman.We’re big fans of the Carnival at CarsGuide with it not only being practical but great to drive making it the perfect big family car. This one seen here looks like just another suburban family hauler especially with the roof box and awning, but on closer inspection you’ll see emergency LED lights integrated into the grille and radio aerials.  There have been some tough looking police vehicles, but not many can claim to being as tough as a Police Rescue Squad Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series as snapped here by Fleet Street Photography.This is a 2019 70 Series, which sports a 4.5-litre diesel V8 and was only available with a five-speed manual gear box. While more uncomfortable to pilot than a camel, if you did happen to have got yourself into an accident somewhere incredibly remote the chances of one of these vehicles making it to you and getting you out of there is 100 per cent.

The top-selling Kia Carnival people mover will gain two new more affordable hybrid variants as part of a 2026 model year (MY26) update.These new Carnival S Hybrid and Sport+ Hybrid variants will supplement the existing range-topping Carnival GT-Line Hybrid.According to pricing database RJ Pound, they’re priced from $56,100 before on-roads and $68,330 before on-roads, respectively.This is around $5500 more expensive than the corresponding V6 petrol variant and $3300 more than the corresponding turbo-diesel variant.This entry-level Carnival S Hybrid is more than $20,000 cheaper than the flagship Carnival GT-Line Hybrid.The rest of the petrol- and turbo-diesel-powered Carnival range has received a price rise of $270. A full pricing table is at the bottom of this story.Kia Australia has confirmed there are no specification changes to the Carnival range for the 2026 model year, besides the addition of the new hybrid variants. They're due to start arriving at local showrooms during May.The fourth-generation Kia Carnival launched in Australia during 2021 and it received a mid-life update in 2024.Still offered in both V6 petrol and four-cylinder turbo-diesel powertrains, the petrol-electric hybrid powertrain joined the lineup a few months after the mid-life update arrived.The Kia Carnival has dominated the people mover sales chart for years now. In the first four months of 2025, a total of 3213 examples have been sold, which is up 36.5 per cent year-on-year.For context, the next best-selling people mover is currently the Hyundai Staria with only 357 sales. That’s almost 10 Carnival sales to one Staria sale.With the addition of these new Carnival Hybrid variants, it remains to be seen whether Kia Australia will introduce more hybrid variants to other models in its lineup.It currently offers the Sportage SX and GT-Line Hybrid variants, the Sorento GT-Line Hybrid, as well as the Sorento GT-Line PHEV.

What is the best car to drive for a ride hailing service like Uber, Ola and Didi? Well, we thought we’d give you our two cents. Not only are we car experts and have driven thousands of new vehicles but we also spend a surprising amount of time sitting in the back of ride share cars talking to drivers. 

People movers were never cool in Australia, but that’s changing as our evolving tastes take us out of SUVs and into little buses.

If you’re keen on a hybrid from an established brand but want something other than a Toyota, there might be a few more options on the horizon soon, with Kia set to ramp up its plug-in hybrid offerings.

Australia’s most popular people mover, the Kia Carnival, has been hit with a recall notice affecting thousands of units across all variants.

Pricing for the upcoming updated version of the Kia Carnival has been published to new car information database RedBook, suggesting Kia has locked in pricing for the people-mover ahead of its imminent release.The 2024 Kia Carnival will soon arrive and (likely) continue to top the people mover sales charts ahead of the LDV Mifa and Hyundai Staria. The facelift appears to feature a line-up that, while different in names, carries on the five-trim, two-engine range of ten variants - that is before a hybrid version of the van arrives later this year.CarsGuide contacted Kia Australia and a spokesperson declined to comment before the brand confirms details for the Carnival, but the pricing’s continued presence on the RedBook website suggests Kia Australia hasn’t called for it to be removed due to inaccuracy. So, here’s what you need to know. The range now consists of S, Sport, Sport+, GT-Line Lite and GT-Line trim levels. A choice of naturally aspirated 3.5-litre petrol V6 or 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engines are both carried over from the pre-facelift Carnival.Pricing looks to kick $2670 higher than before for the Kia Carnival S V6 ($50,150 before on-roads), with the diesel version of each grade being $2230 more expensive than the petrol V6 equivalent - a full pricing table is available at the end of this story.For reference, the S currently (in pre-facelift form) kicks off from $47,480 in V6 guise and tops out at $67,580 in top-spec diesel-powered Platinum (now GT-Line).Without confirmation from Kia regarding features, the updated S appears to come with a decent list of standard features like an eight-speaker sound system, auto-dip high-beams, selectable drive modes, a set of 17-inch alloys and a safety suite including front parking sensors and traffic sign recognition.The Sport (replacing Si) adds multi-zone climate control, LED taillights, anti-glare mirror, 18-inch alloys, synthetic leather trim and wireless phone charging.Sport+ brings surround-view parking cameras, tinted privacy glass, electric driver seat adjustment, a power tailgate and other material trim changes and steps in for the SLi.GT-Line Lite appears to be fairly self-explanatory, coming to replace the relatively recently added ‘Special Edition’ Carnival which was essentially a discounted Platinum with some features missing to ease demand during the semiconductor shortage.A sunroof and 19-inch alloys are two additions for that variant, while the top-spec GT-Line – previously Platinum – scores a 12-speaker sound system, heated steering wheel, lead-vehicle adaptive cruise, heated and ventilated front seats and the passenger’s becomes electrically adjustable.2024 Kia Carnival pricing (before on-road costs) 

The hybrid version of the Kia Carnival is another step closer to an Australian launch after it received approval from the Australian Government to be sold locally.Documents reveal Kia has requested - and been granted - approval from the government to sell