Carnival time

By Alastair Sloane

KOREAN carmaker Kia upset bankers in America's bible belt recently when it launched its new advertising campaign, Yes 2 Kia, a play on the Year 2000 abbreviation Y2K.

Bankers didn't find the line clever at all, even though it was penned by an American agency.

What's this upstart Korean car company doing, trying to lure Americans out of American cars by making fun of the millennium? Dammit, Martha, the world's gone to hell in a handbag again.

One bank went as far as threatening not to lend money on Kias. Others just flat out tried to discourage customers.

Shucks, Billy-Joe, all them foreign cars is not what America is about. Trying to make money out of the new year of our Lord is not the American way, ain't that the truth. How about you just take yourself off down the road aways and buy yourself a Ford?

Kia's Korean rival, Daewoo, ran into similar obstacles when it went into America last year with its direct-selling method. Some states in the south banned it, basically because it wasn't the way they did business.

Kia hasn't run into anything like that in New Zealand over the past couple of years as it slowly but surely builds a customer base.

So far this year it has sold 446 passenger cars, 46 more than Chrysler and nearly 96 more than Audi. But this comparison serves only to point to Kia's bigger fleet market.

Its fleet market will take on a new importance now that Kia is launching its Yes 2 Kia campaign with an all-new vehicle, a people-mover called the Carnival, which exceeds American and European crash standards.

The most attractive thing about the seven-seater Carnival is the price, $39,995. Standard equipment includes adjustable roof racks, dual airbags and front and rear air-conditioning. Optional ABS anti-lock brakes push the price up to $41,995.

There are a few good touches, available on more expensive rival models.

The rear sliding door near the petrol flap won't open when the tank is being filled. This prevents children, for instance, sliding the door open and knocking the petrol pump out of dad's hand.

The front and rear air-conditioning system uses two separate ventilation ducts, working on the principle that hot air rises and cool air falls. Cooler air is channelled through vents in the roof and warm air is routed through vents in the floor.

The door mirrors have built-in heaters, activated by the rear demister, and built-in coat-hooks spring out from interior panels at the touch of a button.

The Carnival's platform is a reworked version of that in the Credos sedan. The engine, mated to a four-speed automatic transmission, is a 2.5-litre V6 Rover K series, built under licence by Kia. It develops 132kW at 3200 rpm and 220Nm of pulling power at 4000 rpm.

The engine bellowed a bit in power mode and under kickdown on a brief run the other day, but in economy mode it provided steady response.

It rides well, too, sitting on a suspension system consisting of MacPherson struts and coils in the front and a rigid axle with springs in the rear.

The Carnival is 4890mm long, 1895mm wide and 1790mm high with a wheelbase of 2910mm. In size it sits somewhere between the short wheelbase and long wheelbase Chrysler Voyager.

Its rivals include the Voyager, VW Sharan, Toyota Previa, Honda Odyssey and Mitsubishi Nimbus, all between about $2000 and $25,000 more expensive.

Kia's general manager in New Zealand, Adam Poulopoulos, said the Carnival would do for buyers of people-movers what Korean brands have already done for small car buyers.

"The New Zealand market is ripe for a solid, safe and reliable people-mover at a razor-sharp price - and the Carnival's price is certainly sharp," he said.