Are sliding doors on Kia Carnival a danger? Global recall order issued for MPV

Kia has reportedly issued a recall order for 51,568 units of its Carnival MPV to check for a potential fault in its sliding doors. The move comes after several reports of injuries caused allegedly by the ‘risky’ doors when closing. The earliest such report of an injury was back in 2021 and there have been more reported since.

The Kia Carnival units recalled belong to 2022 and 2023 model years and while the Korean company maintains that the sliding doors on the MPV can be compared to similar doors on sliding format on rival models, it has taken the precautionary step of adding some safety-related updates. The injuries mostly pertain to minor cuts or scrapes but there have been two serious cases of fractures as well.

The Kia Carnival features an automatic door closing system and an auto-reversal function as well when an obstruction is detected. But Kia is reportedly now adding some software-based updates that include an audio warning chime when the door is opening and closing, and slows the door slide when it nears the latching point.

The recall is in select markets only at present and there is no word on whether Indian customers of the Kia Carnival will also have to drive in their vehicles at a future date. The Carnival was the second model from Kia India, after Seltos was launched to much fanfare in 2019.

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