The current generation Kia Carnival has been on the market for about two years now, so it’s a good time to give it a mid-cycle facelift. That’s exactly what Kia has done with its longest-running model in the Philippines, and with the 2025 Kia Carnival, the South Korean automaker aims to continue improving the formula of what a premium MPV should be.
When the current Kia Carnival arrived in the Philippines two years ago, this MPV blended traditional MPV elements with crossover SUV looks. After all, people these days buy into the rugged looks of an SUV or a crossover. That’s pretty much the case here with this facelifted model but enhanced even further with an angular and boxier mesh grille, vertical slim LED headlights and LED taillights, and a full-width light bar that connects the two LED taillights to give its rear end a bolder nighttime stance. There are also new front and rear bumpers to complement this raft of aesthetic changes.
The side profile is largely unchanged, but that became an opportunity for Kia to give this MPV a set of new wheels, with the EX wearing 18-inch wheels, and the range-topping SX in these photos wearing geometric 19-inch wheels. The best part about the new Carnival is that this MPV has managed to cleanly adopt Kia’s latest Opposites United design language. Adopting a new design language is often hard to pull off in a mid-cycle facelift, but the 2025 Kia Carnival looks like it was naturally designed with this motif in mind.
Likewise, the interior of the 2025 Kia Carnival isn’t a major overhaul of what we’ve been used to, but now it’s a much better-packaged MPV. For instance, the two 12.3-inch screens are now standard on both the base EX and the top-trim SX, which gets rid of the pre-facelift model’s analog gauges that look out of place with the rest of the interior. These two 12.3-inch screens are running the new connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) operating system with the Ki interface design since it’s inside a Kia vehicle.
You probably won’t hear this from local press releases, but this infotainment system won numerous awards, such as the Red Dot Design Award, Gold at the German Design Award, as well as Good Design Award Korea. This infotaiment system is one of the best I’ve used in any vehicle, with a cohesive design language that matches Kia’s aesthetic, as well as having a user-friendly, intuitive, and responsive interface. This is coupled with a good amount of switchable physical and capacitive touch controls on the dash, while the center console has been redesigned as well to have more storage areas, including a wireless charging pad exclusive to the SX.
A black and taupe interior is standard across the two variants, though the EX gets leatherette upholstery, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, rear captain’s chairs with manual adjustments, a 360-degree camera, a powered tailgate, and Safe Exist Assist for the power sliding doors. On the other hand, the SX gets the rear Premium Relaxation Seats with power adjustment, as well as heating and cooling, power-adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, and dual sunroofs, just to name a few.
Under the hood of the 2025 Kia Carnival is the Hyundai Motor Group’s tried-and-tested 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine, which in this case, receives incremental improvements that boost its power from 190 horsepower to 202 horses and 440 Nm of torque. This is mated to a slick-shifting eight-speed automatic that drives the front wheels.
Complementing its refined manners is the Kia DriveWise suite of advanced driver-assistance systems, which in the case of the EX, includes Blind Spot Detection. In the range-topping SX, you now get Smart Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, Lane Following Assist, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.
The 2025 Kia Carnival, which is now better packaged with improved features, particularly in the multimedia front, is priced from P2,888,000 for the EX, and P3,368,000 for the SX.
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