2022 CKD KIA Carnival 7/8 Seater Now Open For Booking

The CKD 2022 Kia Carnival with seven and eight seating configurations is now available for booking.

Ever since the fourth-generation Kia Carnival hit our shores, it has hit the ground running. One of the reasons why it has been so popular is because it looks better than its competitors and that it offers 11 seats.

While some buyers bought the MPV purely for its great number of seats, some were hesitant to pull the trigger because of the seating arrangement - because 11 seats really do take up a lot of space in the cabin, making the MPV slightly cramped.

Well, it seems that Kia Malaysia has solved this problem, as a posting on Facebook by Kia Seri Kembangan - AZ Master Motor has confirmed that the 2022 Kia Carnival CKD will be available in a seven and eight-seat configuration.

The posting by AZ Master Motor states that the CKD Carnival is now open for booking, five months after the car arrived in Malaysia as a fully-imported CBU vehicle.

There are also estimated prices (subject to confirmation) for the vehicles, which we have listed down below.

• 7-seater HS (High Spec) - RM260k
• 8-seater HS (High Spec) - RM250k
• 8-seater MS (Mid Spec) - RM235k

For those who have been eyeing the Kia Carnival, you would instantly recognise that the locally assembled MPV is a bit more expensive than the fully imported model. The reason behind this is that the 11-seater Carnival took advantage of a loophole where it was able to classify itself as a commercial vehicle which means lower taxes.

Although nothing has yet been announced officially, the CKD Carnival should come with better equipment such as a 12.3-inch digital instrument display (CBU came with a 4.2-inch TFT-LCD cluster) and more safety features, or else it would be hard to justify its higher price.

The seven and eight-seater 2022 Carnival is a result of customer feedback where some wished that the Carnival would come with more legroom as the 11-seater layout really did not allow for much of it.

We can also expect the CKD Carnival to come with the same powerplant as the CBU, a 202 PS and 440 Nm 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox.