Sedona? No, no, no. Call me Carnival.
Kia
In all fairness, we kind of already knew this was happening. Last year, reports circulated suggesting Kia would drop the Sedona name for its US-spec minivan in favor of the Carnival moniker used around the world. Now, it’s pretty much official, according to a listing on the EPA’s fuel economy website that Motor Trend first spotted on Thursday.
The Kia Carnival minivan is listed as a 2022 model, and has fuel economy ratings of 19 miles per gallon city, 26 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined. The EPA listing also confirms the use of a 3.5-liter V6 engine as well as an eight-speed automatic transmission. For comparison, the 2021 Sedona has an older 3.3-liter V6 and returns 18 mpg city, 24 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined.
Kia first debuted the Korean-spec Carnival minivan last summer, with sharper, more SUV-like styling. To our eyes, the van looks awesome, and we’re stoked to see its arrival in the US later this year, where it’ll face stiff competition from the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna, all of which were recently overhauled.
The switch from Sedona to Carnival makes sense to us; we prefer the latter, honestly. It also won’t be the first time Kia’s changed the name of a US product for an all-new version. Last year, Kia dropped the Optima name from its midsize sedan, which is now called the K5.
Kia did not immediately return our request for comment, but given that the Carnival name appears on the official US EPA website, we can’t imagine this is a fluke. Look for the redesigned minivan to go on sale later this year.
2021 Kia Sedona: A leather-lined machine for family duties
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