CABIN FEVER

The Kia Carnival is a fair bit more expensive than the Toyota Innova Crysta, and we’re trying to figure out if it’s worth all that extra cash!

- AATISH MISHRA

FEBRUARY 2020. I WAS STANDING IN Hall 7 at the Auto Expo packed to the rafters with journalists with boilerplate tweets and half-finished web stories, waiting for the price of the Kia Carnival to be announced. The Seltos had already been established as a runaway success, but there was apprehension surrounding the Carnival. It was attempting something that had never been achieved in the last decade and a half of the Indian automotive landscape, one-upping the Toyota Innova. Many have undercut Toyota’s star MPV — the Ertiga, Mobilio, Marrazzo, Lodgy — all trying to offer the same number of seats at a better price. But no one had tried to go the other way, with more seats, more luxury and more equipment. I had already driven the Carnival and knew its potential. However, as it is with everything in India, it was all down to the price. The usual product presentation song-and-dance that I had already sat through once before at the first drive, was repeated here. Then came the prices. Just under ₹25 lakh for the base variant. Little under ₹34 lakh for the Limousine.