2022 Kia Carnival SX Review: Vans Are Cool, Y’all

Kia’s minivan – sorry, MPV – is a stylish family-hauling alternative to the Telluride SUV.

Verdict

8.5 / 10

Kia is no stranger to minivans, selling the US-market Sedona over three generations since its debut in 2002. However, the automaker would maybe prefer you forget the past, which is why it replaced the outgoing minivan with a family hauler called the Carnival (adopting the global name already used in other regions). In fact, Kia is so devoted to minimizing the Sedona’s influence that it doesn’t even call the 2022 Carnival a minivan at all.

Instead, the automaker would have you call it a “multi-purpose vehicle,” a buzzword that invokes a crossover more than a van. Disguising a mini’s van-ness isn’t a new idea. The Chevrolet Uplander and its Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay, and Pontiac Montana SV6 siblings adopted a long snout and lower cladding that GM claimed gave them SUV styling. But where those frankly hideous, lethargic minivans failed, the Carnival succeeds – this Kia family hauler is handsome, versatile, and comfortable, regardless of what you call it.