A Leaked Kia Plan Puts New Carnival and Sorento Hybrids in 2028

A leaked internal Kia document that surfaced on November 3 schedules an all-new Carnival Hybrid and an all-new Sorento Hybrid for 2028. It also lists a hydrogen-powered Carnival by 2029 and a new electric SUV called the EV7, and Kia has not confirmed any of it.

The document comes from Kia’s Employment Stability Committee and lays out which new models each of Kia’s Korean factories will build over the next few years. Both the Carnival and the Sorento are sold in the US, and neither hybrid is among the models Kia assembles in America, so the plan points directly at two of the most important family vehicles in Kia’s American lineup.

The Korean Car Blog published the leaked document’s contents, saying it lists the Gwangmyeong factory in Gyeonggi province for "completely redesigned models" including a 2028 Carnival Hybrid, and a plan to build hydrogen Carnival models there by 2029. The outlet said that would be Kia’s first production hydrogen vehicle and would most likely use Hyundai Motor Group fuel cell technology, the same group that builds the Hyundai Nexo. It had already photographed what it says is the first prototype of the next-generation Carnival, testing under the body of the current van.

The Sorento news is the bigger surprise. The document lists the Hwaseong factory for redesigned models including a Sorento Hybrid in 2028, which the outlet said points to a new generation rather than the second facelift that earlier prototypes had suggested. Hwaseong also builds the Tasman pickup, which is not sold in the US, and the document says Kia is reviewing improvements for the Tasman and more versions of it. At the Gwangju factory, Kia will go ahead with production of the EV7, a midsize electric SUV, and an updated Bongo commercial truck in 2028, while its Hanam bus plant will stop building large buses and switch to military vehicles.

Electrek picked up the EV7 detail on November 4, quoting the document’s line that "production of mid-range electric SUV ‘EV7’ to proceed" at Gwangju. The outlet placed the EV7 between the EV6 and the three-row EV9 and suggested it will be closer to the Sorento in size than to the EV5, which is about as big as a Sportage, though the document gives no dimensions, powertrain details or market plans for the EV7.

The hybrids in question are selling fast in the US. Kia’s October sales release shows the Sorento Hybrid up 122 percent and the Carnival Hybrid up 88 percent from a year earlier, with the Carnival Hybrid having its best month ever, and the release notes that the gas Sorento is assembled in the US while the hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions are not.

The HyundaiHQ Take

If the document is accurate, Kia is planning to replace its two hybrid family haulers in the same year, which would put a fresh Carnival Hybrid up against the Toyota Sienna and a fresh Sorento Hybrid against the Highlander Hybrid just as the current ones are peaking. The hydrogen Carnival is a curiosity for Korea rather than a US product, and the EV7 is the one to watch, because a Sorento-sized EV with two rows would fill the hole between the EV6 and the EV9 where Kia’s American EV sales have been weakest.