Indians pay Rs 14 crore to book 1,410 Kia Carnivals on the first day

Mumbai: The popularity of both multiple purpose vehicles (MPVs) and Kia Motors keeps soaring. The Korean carmaker on Wednesday said that it received 1,410 bookings for its Carnival MPV on the first day.

Customers paid the steep booking amount of Rs 1 lakh to book the Carnival MPV, which will be launched at the Auto Expo in Greater Noida next month, Kia said. The prices for the premium MPV are yet to be announced.

The carmaker further said that 64 per cent of the bookings were for the higher-end Limousine variant of the vehicle.

After losing steam in the past few years, the MPV segment has again been on the rise. Led by a series of new launches, the segment registered a 35 per cent growth in 2019 to 2.2 lakh units, with cars priced between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, ET had earlier reported. By contrast, most segments of the automotive market contracted during the year, often in double digits.

The market share of MPVs in India has now increased from 5 per cent to 8 per cent. At its peak, MPVs had accounted for 10 per cent of the overall market and experts feel that with upcoming launches from Maruti Suzuki and Toyota in this segment, along with the Carnival, should help the segment scale its earlier peak.

On its part, Kia Motors has been popular since its inception in the Indian market. It’s maiden vehicle, the Seltos SUV, had recorder over 6,000 bookings on the first day when it was launched last year.