Kia Carnival vs Toyota Innova Crysta: Spec Comparison

Could the Carnival be the challenger to the undisputed king of premium MPVs in India?

The Toyota Innova Crysta is one of the bestselling products in India for the Japanese carmaker and has dominated the premium MPV segment with almost no competition. There are other MPVs of similar or smaller size that are priced lower. But a new carmaker is coming to India and it’s possibly going to launch a product that could well challenge the Toyota MPV in its own segment - the Kia Carnival.

While Kia has not yet officially confirmed the Carnival MPV for the Indian market, we expect it to be one of the vehicles that could be introduced in 2020 after the launch of the SP2i compact SUV in the second half of 2019. We know the details of the global-spec Kia Carnival, also known as the Sedona. Let’s see how it fares against the India-spec Toyota Innova Crysta:

Dimensions

*For petrol-engine variants

The dimensions of the global-spec Kia Carnival suggest that it’s significantly bigger than the Innova Crysta. It is 380mm longer, 155mm wider and has a 310mm longer wheelbase while the Toyota MPV is 55mm taller and in certain variants more than 200kg lighter. The dimensions suggest that the Carnival will be a more spacious MPV than the Innova Crysta. Also, the Carnival is monocoque in construction, while the Innova is a body-on-frame type MPV. Ideally, that should result in the Carnival being more car-like to drive in comparison to the Crysta.

Engines

The Kia Carnival is globally available with a choice of both petrol and diesel engines as is the Toyota Innova Crysta in India.

Petrol

The Carnival has a bigger engine with two additional cylinders and produces an extra 104PS of power and 73Nm of torque. However, that does lower its fuel efficiency rating as compared to the Innova which also comes with a manual gearbox that offers even more kilometres per litre of fuel.

Diesel

The diesel engine is the most likely option to be offered if the Kia Carnival is launched in India. While it has a smaller engine capacity than both the diesel engines available with the Innova, the Carnival is more powerful and torquier too. The Kia is only available with an automatic transmission which is more fuel efficient than the Innova’s diesel-AT variant.

Features

Standard Features: The Toyota Innova Crysta is currently priced between Rs 14.83 lakh to Rs 22.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and we expect the Kia Carnival to be priced around the Rs 20 lakh mark. At this price point, these seven-seat MPVs are expectedly well equipped. They are both available with captain seats in the second row, split-folding third row seats, auto AC, power-adjustable driver’s seat and cruise control.

Seating: Globally, the Kia Carnival is available with upto four rows to seat 11 people. But we expect only the three-row, 7/8-seat variant with an optional middle seat for the second row to come to India and rival the Innova Crysta. The Innova’s second row seats have a tumble function which allows the backrest to fall forward and the whole seat folds up for access to the last row. In the Carnival, Kia uses a stand-up design in which the base of the second row seat along with the seatback fold upward, opening up space to enter the third row. The Innova’s driving seat is 8-way power adjustable with slide-adjustable second row seats. Meanwhile the Carnival can be had with a 12-way power adjustable driver’s seat and 8-way power adjustable front passenger seat with memory function too, both being ventilated as well.

Safety: The Kia Carnival gets up to eight airbags, while the Toyota Innova Crysta gets upto seven in the top spec. Both these MPVs come with electronic stability control, ABS with EBD and hill start control. Internationally, depending on the region, the Carnival can also be equipped with adaptive cruise control instead of the regular manually adjusted cruise control. Other safety assist systems on the Kia include blind-spot detection, lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic alert. Both come with rear parking cameras, while in some markets, the Carnival can also be equipped with an optional around-view monitor system which uses four cameras.

Infotainment: Both the Innova Crysta and the Carnival come with infotainment systems with touchscreen displays. On the Malaysia-spec of the Kia MPV, the 2018 model is fitted with an 8-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Carnival can also be equipped with a 7-inch LCD screen in the infotainment cluster instead of a 3.5-inch screen between the two analogue dials. In the Toyota, however, you get a 7-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment system and a TFT multi-information display in the driver’s instrument cluster. The Toyota’s infotainment system does not offer Android Auto or Apple CarPlay compatibility.

Comfort and convenience features:  Both the Toyota and Kia models are premium MPVs and thus offer a variety of comforts and conveniences that can be expected at that price point. They both have tilt and telescopic adjustment for the steering wheel, numerous cup holders, slide-open trays and cubby holes for storage and driving modes as well. Both also come with separate auto AC controls for the front and rear passengers (3-zone control in the Kia) and a cooled glovebox, but the global-spec Carnival gets a dual sunroof, while the Innova offers none. Another cool feature of the Kia Carnival are the electrically sliding doors which are particularly useful in tight parking areas or personal garages. These doors can also be operated from the roof-mounted controls by the driver.

Price

The Toyota Innova Crysta is still the only premium MPV at its price which ranges between Rs 14.83 lakh to Rs 22.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Recently, there have been new entrants at lower price points such as the Mahindra Marazzo, while the Maruti Ertiga has also undergone a generation change. Even Mercedes-Benz launched the V-Class luxury van in India, but there are no direct rivals to the Innova.

Is that where the Kia Carnival could have a big impact? We expect that Kia would position the bigger Carnival MPV to rival the top-spec variants of the Innova Crysta only, and thus, will present a case for those who want to upgrade from the Toyota. As a result, we expect it to be priced around the Rs 20 lakh mark.

Also read: Two New Kia Cars Coming To India In 2020