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The Kia Sedona is the most neglected car model currently on sale

Today is a rainy day. What does a car nut do on a rainy day? After my spouse said I could have some free time, I started to wonder things. Bizarre things. Like, what happened to minivans? In addition to Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, other manufacturers jumped into the minivan pool. Remember the Mercury, Nissan, and Mazda's minivans? They stormed on the scene en masse in the 1980's and 1990's and then seemed to peter out as the crossover craze began taking full effect at the turn of the millennium. Now there are fewer minivan offerings and one in particular seems neglected. Well, it's still raining. So, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts in that vein. Today, Honda and Toyota are often seen as the minivan rivals, picking at each other in commercials and one-upping the other with little things, like an internal vacuum cleaner. But, don't forget Chrysler who has always been around in the category (they invented it if you believe their advertisements). So, they are always respected in the field, even though the Grand Caravan and Pacifica arguably aren't up to the Honda and Toyota standards. That's not to say they aren't worthy of serious consideration if you're looking for a minivan, because they are. All the products in this category have become relatively good and are far better in quality than anything from 30 years ago. There's another manufacturer out there however, making a minivan that is hardly ever heard from in automotive advertising circles. That is Kia. Their Sedona model is one of the most neglected models currently on sale. The Kia Sedona is a good product, a worthy competitor in the minivan category. It even has lots of conveniences at a price point that should appeal to minivan buyers (thousands less than Honda or Toyota). But, the parent company's limited advertising has not brought the attention to the model that it deserves. Toyota at least makes an effort to put some swagger into it's marketing campaign for their Sienna. The Swagger Wagon videos are still popular. Toyota has even made an off-road version of the Sienna to keep the Sienna top of mind, even if it is a ridiculous concept that will never go into production. So, what?! It's a fun exercise to keep their product somewhat viral. Kia, well... does anybody remember anything cool about the Sedona? Hold on... Yes! There was that Photo Safari Sedona back in 2015.

Don't call it a minivan: Kia previews new Sedona Grand Utility Vehicle

Kia sells more crossovers than ever, but it's not forgetting about its entry into the minivan segment. It released a design sketch to preview the next-generation Carnival, which is known as the Sedona in the United States. Stylists shun the increasingly unpopular minivan label; they claim they've created a Grand Utility Vehicle whose design is more stylish, more futuristic, and, somewhat inevitably, more SUV-like than the outgoing model's. The sketch released by the South Korean firm indicates the Sedona's front end receives a taller, flatter hood, a bigger grille with vertical slats and a chrome-look frame, plus thin horizontal lights accented by LED elements. Its overall proportions don't drastically change, no one's going to mistake it for a Stinger, but blacked-out door pillars create the illusion of a floating roof. We don't know what the rear end looks like yet, though the company noted the horizontal crease below the window line links the lights on both ends. The alloys are gigantic, but keep in mind we're looking at a design sketch. The production model will ride on smaller wheels with more sidewall. We'll need to muster a little bit of patience to find out what the Sedona looks like inside, or what its sheetmetal hides. Practicality is the name of the game in the minivan segment, so Kia will likely pack an array of clever features into the van to make commuting, kid-hauling, and road-tripping easier. Seeing a hybrid powertrain join the specifications sheet would make sense considering the market's on-going shift towards electrification, but nothing has been confirmed at this point. The current-generation Sedona receives a 3.3-liter, 276-horsepower V6 for the American market, and we wouldn't be surprised if it downsizes to a turbocharged four-cylinder. Kia will introduce the fourth-generation Carnival this summer, and the model will go on sale in its home country in the third quarter. It will begin arriving in other global markets shortly after. Although the company didn't specifically mention the United States, we'd bet on seeing it in showrooms as a 2021 model. Minivans are getting their lunch money taken by crossovers here, but the segment remains reasonably big. Kia is one of its underdogs: It sold 16,000 examples of the Sedona in 2019, while Honda and Chrysler each found nearly 100,000 buyers for the Odyssey and the Pacifica, respectively, and Toyota reported 73,585 Sienna sales.

Feds investigating Kia Sorento over shattered sunroofs

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into 64,000 Kia Sorento crossovers due to complaints from owners that the sunroof can shatter unexpectedly. This probe affects Sorento models from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 model years.
According to The Detroit News, NHTSA has received 15 complaints from Sorento owners citing sunroofs that shattered, 13 of which reportedly happened while the vehicle was in motion. No crashes have been reported from this problem, but one complaint did cite minor injuries - cuts from the shattered glass.
The automaker told The Detroit News that it "has been evaluating the performance of its panoramic sunroof as part of ongoing vehicle monitoring activities conducted as a standard practice on all Kia models." Kia's corporate cousin, Hyundai, recently had similar sunroof problems with its Veloster hatchback.