Whoo, boy – I’m getting ready for the protests in the comments now: “The Kia Carnival isn’t an SUV,” you’re about to tell me, and I do kind of agree with you. Technically speaking, the Kia Carnival is a minivan that rivals the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna – all vehicles with big sliding doors so the entire family can climb through their apertures in one go.
But Kia saw how crossovers and SUVs were dominating the market and realized that a lot of people just wanted the appearance of a crossover. For that reason, the South Korean automaker designed the Carnival with SUV styling elements, like an upright front fascia, beefy bumper designs, masculine roof rails, and a smart C-pillar design element that looks like it’s come from a truck-based SUV rather than a people carrier. It’s also pretty practical, and with a towing capacity of 3,500 lbs, it bests some compact crossovers. It’s even been turned into a campervan by someone.
While technically, it is a minivan, we wouldn’t be surprised if Kia later revealed an X-Line trim option with more rugged styling and a slight suspension lift to bridge the gap between minivan and sliding door SUV even more.
