2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid now more than $20,000 cheaper
Just as it promised it would, Kia Australia has now added more affordable S and Sport+ versions of the Carnival HEV, which was released here exclusively in top-shelf GT-Line form as part of the facelifted people mover range launched in May 2024.
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Kia wants an even cheaper Sportage Hybrid to take on the Toyota RAV4 in Australia
Kia Australia's product boss wants a more affordable, entry-level Sportage Hybrid (HEV) variant to better compete with the top-selling Toyota RAV4, but he can't confirm exactly when such an option will become available. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the facelifted Sportage, Kia Australia's general manager for product Roland Rivero said his team's next priority for the upgraded mid-size SUV range is adding a cheaper hybrid grade, but getting it here could be an uphill battle. "What we need to monitor first is this trim and powertrain strategy [the new all-wheel drive HEV variants in SX and GT-Line trims]. We want to see how this goes in the marketplace," Mr Rivero told CarExpert. "On top of that, we have to marry it up to how much supply we can get. Hybrid production [for Australia] is shared with the United States, so we sometimes don't get the lion's share of hybrids." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We're quite happy that… we've got enough supply to do SX and GT-Line across [Hybrid] all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and to ask for another variant means we're going to need more supply. "If the stars do align, we can bring [entry-level Sportage S HEV variants] in. It's easy to create the variant, but not necessarily easy to get the supply of it. So we've got to juggle that right now and see how we go – timing wise… I don't know," Mr Rivero added. Notwithstanding his desire for a cheaper S-spec version of the Sportage hybrid, Mr Rivero said supply of petrol-electric Sportage vehicles has improved slightly for the model's mid-life facelift, and currently sits somewhere between 400 and 500 units per month compared to the 300/month total for the pre-facelift model. During the Sportage media conference, Mr Rivero also indicated that initial orders are showing a 60:40 split between AWD and front-wheel drive Sportage Hybrid variants, which is unsurprising given AWD hybrids have previously been unavailable in Australia. The most affordable Sportage HEV in Australia is the SX FWD, which starts from $46,450 plus on-road costs. A cheaper front-drive Sportage S hybrid would likely drop that figure to around $42,000. Australia's favourite SUV, the hybrid-only Toyota RAV4, is currently priced from $42,260 plus on-road costs for the cheapest GX 2WD variant. The Kia Sportage lineup is currently the fourth best-selling mid-size SUV in Australia based on VFACTS new-vehicle sales data, with 8723 units registered between January 1 and May 31 this year. Its 9.4 per cent share of the nation's largest auto market segment is bested by the aforementioned RAV4 (with 21,613 sales in the same period), as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander (10,203) and Mazda CX-5 (9409). For the 2024 calendar year, the Sportage line notched up 22,210 registrations (up 41.0 per cent year-on-year), again placing it fourth behind the same rivals in the same order. Interestingly, the related Hyundai Tucson lineup (7940 sales YTD) trails the Sportage in terms of popularity, despite offering double the number of hybrid variants – eight versus just four for the updated Sportage. Stay tuned to CarExpert for our first Australian drive of the facelifted Sportage on July 13. MORE: 2025 Kia Sportage price and specsMORE: Everything Kia Sportage Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia's product boss wants a more affordable, entry-level Sportage Hybrid (HEV) variant to better compete with the top-selling Toyota RAV4, but he can't confirm exactly when such an option will become available. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the facelifted Sportage, Kia Australia's general manager for product Roland Rivero said his team's next priority for the upgraded mid-size SUV range is adding a cheaper hybrid grade, but getting it here could be an uphill battle. "What we need to monitor first is this trim and powertrain strategy [the new all-wheel drive HEV variants in SX and GT-Line trims]. We want to see how this goes in the marketplace," Mr Rivero told CarExpert. "On top of that, we have to marry it up to how much supply we can get. Hybrid production [for Australia] is shared with the United States, so we sometimes don't get the lion's share of hybrids." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We're quite happy that… we've got enough supply to do SX and GT-Line across [Hybrid] all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and to ask for another variant means we're going to need more supply. "If the stars do align, we can bring [entry-level Sportage S HEV variants] in. It's easy to create the variant, but not necessarily easy to get the supply of it. So we've got to juggle that right now and see how we go – timing wise… I don't know," Mr Rivero added. Notwithstanding his desire for a cheaper S-spec version of the Sportage hybrid, Mr Rivero said supply of petrol-electric Sportage vehicles has improved slightly for the model's mid-life facelift, and currently sits somewhere between 400 and 500 units per month compared to the 300/month total for the pre-facelift model. During the Sportage media conference, Mr Rivero also indicated that initial orders are showing a 60:40 split between AWD and front-wheel drive Sportage Hybrid variants, which is unsurprising given AWD hybrids have previously been unavailable in Australia. The most affordable Sportage HEV in Australia is the SX FWD, which starts from $46,450 plus on-road costs. A cheaper front-drive Sportage S hybrid would likely drop that figure to around $42,000. Australia's favourite SUV, the hybrid-only Toyota RAV4, is currently priced from $42,260 plus on-road costs for the cheapest GX 2WD variant. The Kia Sportage lineup is currently the fourth best-selling mid-size SUV in Australia based on VFACTS new-vehicle sales data, with 8723 units registered between January 1 and May 31 this year. Its 9.4 per cent share of the nation's largest auto market segment is bested by the aforementioned RAV4 (with 21,613 sales in the same period), as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander (10,203) and Mazda CX-5 (9409). For the 2024 calendar year, the Sportage line notched up 22,210 registrations (up 41.0 per cent year-on-year), again placing it fourth behind the same rivals in the same order. Interestingly, the related Hyundai Tucson lineup (7940 sales YTD) trails the Sportage in terms of popularity, despite offering double the number of hybrid variants – eight versus just four for the updated Sportage. Stay tuned to CarExpert for our first Australian drive of the facelifted Sportage on July 13. MORE: 2025 Kia Sportage price and specsMORE: Everything Kia Sportage Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia's product boss wants a more affordable, entry-level Sportage Hybrid (HEV) variant to better compete with the top-selling Toyota RAV4, but he can't confirm exactly when such an option will become available. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the facelifted Sportage, Kia Australia's general manager for product Roland Rivero said his team's next priority for the upgraded mid-size SUV range is adding a cheaper hybrid grade, but getting it here could be an uphill battle. "What we need to monitor first is this trim and powertrain strategy [the new all-wheel drive HEV variants in SX and GT-Line trims]. We want to see how this goes in the marketplace," Mr Rivero told CarExpert. "On top of that, we have to marry it up to how much supply we can get. Hybrid production [for Australia] is shared with the United States, so we sometimes don't get the lion's share of hybrids." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We're quite happy that… we've got enough supply to do SX and GT-Line across [Hybrid] all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and to ask for another variant means we're going to need more supply. "If the stars do align, we can bring [entry-level Sportage S HEV variants] in. It's easy to create the variant, but not necessarily easy to get the supply of it. So we've got to juggle that right now and see how we go – timing wise… I don't know," Mr Rivero added. Notwithstanding his desire for a cheaper S-spec version of the Sportage hybrid, Mr Rivero said supply of petrol-electric Sportage vehicles has improved slightly for the model's mid-life facelift, and currently sits somewhere between 400 and 500 units per month compared to the 300/month total for the pre-facelift model. During the Sportage media conference, Mr Rivero also indicated that initial orders are showing a 60:40 split between AWD and front-wheel drive Sportage Hybrid variants, which is unsurprising given AWD hybrids have previously been unavailable in Australia. The most affordable Sportage HEV in Australia is the SX FWD, which starts from $46,450 plus on-road costs. A cheaper front-drive Sportage S hybrid would likely drop that figure to around $42,000. Australia's favourite SUV, the hybrid-only Toyota RAV4, is currently priced from $42,260 plus on-road costs for the cheapest GX 2WD variant. The Kia Sportage lineup is currently the fourth best-selling mid-size SUV in Australia based on VFACTS new-vehicle sales data, with 8723 units registered between January 1 and May 31 this year. Its 9.4 per cent share of the nation's largest auto market segment is bested by the aforementioned RAV4 (with 21,613 sales in the same period), as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander (10,203) and Mazda CX-5 (9409). For the 2024 calendar year, the Sportage line notched up 22,210 registrations (up 41.0 per cent year-on-year), again placing it fourth behind the same rivals in the same order. Interestingly, the related Hyundai Tucson lineup (7940 sales YTD) trails the Sportage in terms of popularity, despite offering double the number of hybrid variants – eight versus just four for the updated Sportage. Stay tuned to CarExpert for our first Australian drive of the facelifted Sportage on July 13. MORE: 2025 Kia Sportage price and specsMORE: Everything Kia Sportage Content originally sourced from: Kia Australia's product boss wants a more affordable, entry-level Sportage Hybrid (HEV) variant to better compete with the top-selling Toyota RAV4, but he can't confirm exactly when such an option will become available. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the facelifted Sportage, Kia Australia's general manager for product Roland Rivero said his team's next priority for the upgraded mid-size SUV range is adding a cheaper hybrid grade, but getting it here could be an uphill battle. "What we need to monitor first is this trim and powertrain strategy [the new all-wheel drive HEV variants in SX and GT-Line trims]. We want to see how this goes in the marketplace," Mr Rivero told CarExpert. "On top of that, we have to marry it up to how much supply we can get. Hybrid production [for Australia] is shared with the United States, so we sometimes don't get the lion's share of hybrids." Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We're quite happy that… we've got enough supply to do SX and GT-Line across [Hybrid] all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and to ask for another variant means we're going to need more supply. "If the stars do align, we can bring [entry-level Sportage S HEV variants] in. It's easy to create the variant, but not necessarily easy to get the supply of it. So we've got to juggle that right now and see how we go – timing wise… I don't know," Mr Rivero added. Notwithstanding his desire for a cheaper S-spec version of the Sportage hybrid, Mr Rivero said supply of petrol-electric Sportage vehicles has improved slightly for the model's mid-life facelift, and currently sits somewhere between 400 and 500 units per month compared to the 300/month total for the pre-facelift model. During the Sportage media conference, Mr Rivero also indicated that initial orders are showing a 60:40 split between AWD and front-wheel drive Sportage Hybrid variants, which is unsurprising given AWD hybrids have previously been unavailable in Australia. The most affordable Sportage HEV in Australia is the SX FWD, which starts from $46,450 plus on-road costs. A cheaper front-drive Sportage S hybrid would likely drop that figure to around $42,000. Australia's favourite SUV, the hybrid-only Toyota RAV4, is currently priced from $42,260 plus on-road costs for the cheapest GX 2WD variant. The Kia Sportage lineup is currently the fourth best-selling mid-size SUV in Australia based on VFACTS new-vehicle sales data, with 8723 units registered between January 1 and May 31 this year. Its 9.4 per cent share of the nation's largest auto market segment is bested by the aforementioned RAV4 (with 21,613 sales in the same period), as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander (10,203) and Mazda CX-5 (9409). For the 2024 calendar year, the Sportage line notched up 22,210 registrations (up 41.0 per cent year-on-year), again placing it fourth behind the same rivals in the same order. Interestingly, the related Hyundai Tucson lineup (7940 sales YTD) trails the Sportage in terms of popularity, despite offering double the number of hybrid variants – eight versus just four for the updated Sportage. Stay tuned to CarExpert for our first Australian drive of the facelifted Sportage on July 13. MORE: 2025 Kia Sportage price and specsMORE: Everything Kia Sportage Content originally sourced from:
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Kia won't extend warranty to best Hyundai
Kia Australia says it's not looking to extend its factory warranty beyond seven years, regardless of the increasing number of other auto brands – including its own sister brand Hyundai – now offering aftersales coverage for the same period or longer. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian launch of the facelifted Sportage SUV, the company's general manager for product Roland Rivero said the Korean brand's once-benchmark warranty is no longer a key reason for purchase for its customers, and therefore it's focusing on other areas. 'I think we were very fortunate when we did launch [that] very definitive seven-year warranty… with how much clear air time we had before other OEMs [automakers] introduced theirs. That did a great job for our brand. It gave people permission to look at a Kia product, and for that point in time and where the brand was at, it was required,' Mr Rivero said. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now . 'Where the brand is at now, the warranty component is not so much the driver of what makes customers walk into our showroom. We're quite happy with where it is at the moment – the same as what we launched back in October 2014 – and there are no plans that I'm aware of to change or go any higher. 'I think that component of reason for purchase, which was once probably number one, isn't quite number one anymore. It's slipped further down, and more of a closing component, as opposed to the main reason to attract customers into the Kia brand,' Mr Rivero added. Kia Australia was the first brand in Australia to offer a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre new-vehicle warranty, which commenced on October 1, 2014. Unlike many brands at the time that stipulated conditions around roadside assistance, capped-price servicing or mileage, Kia's comprehensive cover also included roadside assistance and capped price servicing for the same period. Before that, Hyundai Australia pioneered the five-year warranty back in 2007. Kia followed suit in 2008, at a time when the warranties of most brands didn't extend past three years or 150,000km, at best. On July 1, 2025, Korean compatriot Hyundai Australia will move to a similar seven-year/unlimited-km warranty, which will be backdated to all new vehicles registered from January 1, 2025. The introduction of a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty brings Hyundai in line with sister brand Kia, as well as Chery and Skoda, which is the only European brand backing its vehicles with seven years of coverage. Nissan Australia moved to a conditional 10-year/300,000km warranty earlier this year – contingent on vehicles behind serviced within the brand's dealer network over that time – matching Alliance partner Mitsubishi's similar program (albeit limited to 200,000km). MG Motor Australia covers all of its vehicles with a 10-year/250,000km warranty with no servicing requirement to extend the coverage to a decade – though it's only for private buyers who don't use their vehicles for commercial purposes. Business customers receive a seven-year/160,000km warranty. MORE: Hyundai Australia launching seven-year warranty to match Kia, Chery
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Kia wants an even cheaper Sportage Hybrid to take on the Toyota RAV4 in Australia
Kia Australia's product boss wants a more affordable, entry-level Sportage Hybrid (HEV) variant to better compete with the top-selling Toyota RAV4 , but he can't confirm exactly when such an option will become available. Speaking with CarExpert at the Australian media launch of the facelifted Sportage, Kia Australia's general manager for product Roland Rivero said his team's next priority for the upgraded mid-size SUV range is adding a cheaper hybrid grade, but getting it here could be an uphill battle. 'What we need to monitor first is this trim and powertrain strategy [the new all-wheel drive HEV variants in SX and GT-Line trims]. We want to see how this goes in the marketplace,' Mr Rivero told CarExpert. 'On top of that, we have to marry it up to how much supply we can get. Hybrid production [for Australia] is shared with the United States, so we sometimes don't get the lion's share of hybrids.' Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now . 'We're quite happy that… we've got enough supply to do SX and GT-Line across [Hybrid] all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and to ask for another variant means we're going to need more supply. 'If the stars do align, we can bring [entry-level Sportage S HEV variants] in. It's easy to create the variant, but not necessarily easy to get the supply of it. So we've got to juggle that right now and see how we go – timing wise… I don't know,' Mr Rivero added. Notwithstanding his desire for a cheaper S-spec version of the Sportage hybrid, Mr Rivero said supply of petrol-electric Sportage vehicles has improved slightly for the model's mid-life facelift, and currently sits somewhere between 400 and 500 units per month compared to the 300/month total for the pre-facelift model. During the Sportage media conference, Mr Rivero also indicated that initial orders are showing a 60:40 split between AWD and front-wheel drive Sportage Hybrid variants, which is unsurprising given AWD hybrids have previously been unavailable in Australia. The most affordable Sportage HEV in Australia is the SX FWD, which starts from $46,450 plus on-road costs. A cheaper front-drive Sportage S hybrid would likely drop that figure to around $42,000. Australia's favourite SUV, the hybrid-only Toyota RAV4, is currently priced from $42,260 plus on-road costs for the cheapest GX 2WD variant. The Kia Sportage lineup is currently the fourth best-selling mid-size SUV in Australia based on VFACTS new-vehicle sales data, with 8723 units registered between January 1 and May 31 this year. Its 9.4 per cent share of the nation's largest auto market segment is bested by the aforementioned RAV4 (with 21,613 sales in the same period), as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander (10,203) and Mazda CX-5 (9409). For the 2024 calendar year, the Sportage line notched up 22,210 registrations (up 41.0 per cent year-on-year), again placing it fourth behind the same rivals in the same order. Interestingly, the related Hyundai Tucson lineup (7940 sales YTD) trails the Sportage in terms of popularity, despite offering double the number of hybrid variants – eight versus just four for the updated Sportage. Stay tuned to CarExpert for our first Australian drive of the facelifted Sportage on July 13. MORE: 2025 Kia Sportage price and specs MORE: Everything Kia Sportage
