Is there any industry that benefits from the insecurity of consumers more than the car industry? Well, yeah, clearly the entire gun industry in the United States. Still, the growing truck segment demonstrates the market’s willingness to shell out big bucks for a soothed ego.
Now, because so many men fear their own inadequacy, roads and parking lots are jammed packed with too large, under-utilized trucks that scream “I don’t know how to please a woman!” The amount of space they take up is in diametric opposition to how often they’re fully needed.
This focus on crew-cabbed-family-vehicles has had the biggest impact on minivans. Sure, minivans blow. But they are incredibly practical. They offer both passenger and cargo space, uncompromised in a way that trucks struggle with.
Yet, as mentioned, they blow. Largely in part to their ability to accommodate so much personal and cargo space. But, as the popularity of trucks demonstrates, being unreasonably large isn’t a hindrance to many people. How, then, can minivans attract buyers more concerned with looking tough than buying a vehicle that makes sense for their needs?
The Kia Carnival Is a Van With A Truck’s Face
Easy. Make your van look like a truck. At least, that’s what Kia’s hoping.
With the Sedona failing to match the sales of the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, or Chrysler Pacifica, it’s being cut. Or maybe it died from embarrassment. Either way, it’s no longer a thing. Instead, Kia will introduce the very truck-ish Carnival.
Details are slim, but early images show what’s essentially an SUV with sliding doors. And a dumb name. Oh, and the suggestion that the new van is actually a Grand Utility Vehicle. In which case they should’ve just called it the Kia Guv as, even though that would be a terrible name, so too is the Carnival.
As to whether or not this new styling will be successful, one only needs to look at the incredible sales generated by another minivan-disguised-as-a-truck, That is, of course, the Chevrolet Uplander/Pontiac Montana.