FIRST LOOK: 2020 Kia Grand Carnival 11-seat, RM180k

The 2020 Kia Grand Carnival with 11 seats has finally landed in Malaysia, effectively replacing the older eight-seat KX (RM155,888) and SX (RM184,888) variants. The sole people carrier is priced at RM179,888, comes in four colours (Snow White Pearl, Silky Silver, Aurora Black Pearl and Panthera Metal), and is covered with a five-year or 150,000 km warranty package.

In terms of specs, it gets halogen projector headlights with LED DRLs, halogen fog lamps, 18-inch silver wheels with 235/60 profile tyres, powered sliding rear doors, and LED combination tail lights. The car doesn’t come with a powered boot, unfortunately.

The big news is the cabin, of course. The Multiflex seats offer six-, seven-, eight- and 11-seater layouts – fabric upholstery is standard. The second and third row seats offer manual 40:20:40 split folding function, while the fourth row seats are pop-up units which stow away into the boot floor. Luggage capacity starts from 33 litres, increasing up to 2,335 litres with all passenger rows folded.

Other features include a seven-inch touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, a six-speaker setup, reverse camera, three-zone climate control, and a cluster ioniser. There are also sunshades in the second and third rows, as well as four USB charging points and a power outlet in the rear.

The 2.2 litre turbodiesel makes 200 PS at 3,800 rpm and 440 Nm of torque at 1,750 to 2,750 rpm, with drive sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. So, which would you pick, this or the Hyundai Grand Starex?