November 8^th, 1999                          

All-new V6 Carnival dominates People Mover sales

Rewrites the market in first month
In its first full month of sales, Kia’s all-new V6 Carnival has rocketed to best-seller status in official sales figures presented by VFACTS.

Carnival recorded 153 sales to become the best selling people mover in Australia in October, out-selling the long-established market leader, the Tarago, by six units and doubling the sales of the Odyssey and the Voyager. The MPV, also a new model, recorded less than 100 sales.

"We would have sold even more if we’d only had more available," said the general manager of Kia Motors Australia, David Hughes.

"Carnival is in heavy demand in every world market where it’s sold, and getting supply in the numbers we’d like is impossible. As it is, our dealers have ordered every Carnival we can land in Australia until the end of February and, at retail level, waiting lists are already developing for some colours and specifications."

The reason for Carnival’s instantaneous success is not hard to find - with a starting price of just $29,990 it provides all the space and features of other people movers at around two-thirds the price.

"Carnival has made people movers affordable again," Mr Hughes said.

"Larger families no longer have to settle for a multi-seat vehicle that is three or four years old because they can now buy a brand new Carnival, with a three-year/125,000 km warranty, standard dual air conditioning, power windows, power mirrors, central locking and a six-speaker stereo, for the same price."

The success of Carnival was a shot in the arm for Kia, which continued to defy gravity with its second consecutive month of increased sales.

The company recorded 591 total sales, with the recently improved Sportage four-wheel-drive doing healthy business with 154 sales, and the Mentor sedan and hatch benefiting from the current $1000 cash back offer in recording 211 sales.