People movers comparo: Wheels’ ultimate battle between five big MPVS

Change can be slyly deceptive. It’s been nearly nine years since Wheels last ran a comparison featuring people movers, or multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) if you prefer. That test, in the October 2016 issue, featured a bunch of them alongside the latest seven-seat SUVs, and Nathan Ponchard introduced the piece by suggesting that you might but an MPV if you’d given up on life and would choose a more thrusting SUV if you still had any semblance of lead in your pencil.

Fast forward to now, and SUVs are everywhere. They’re no longer the edgier choice. In fact, were you to choose any of the MPVs we’ve gathered here, it’s probably the case that parenthood hasn’t robbed you of your capacity for independent, practical and reasoned thought.

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They’re a disparate bunch, ranging from the flagship Hyundai Staria Highlander CRDi at $67,500 right up to the Mercedes-Benz V300d AMG at a heady $139,927. Because you’re Wheels readers, by definition endowed with a decent level of nuance, you’ll figure out how best to parse this particular smorgasbord on offer for your personal ends. If nothing else, it’s a fascinating insight into the current state of the market.

We’ve deliberately left out two very interesting contenders, namely the Lexus LM and the Zeekr 009, largely because their pricing elevates them some distance from these vehicles and we’d like to get them together at a later date when we get to chew over the meaning of modern luxury.

If the all-wheel drive Staria represents the affordable end of this bracket, the box-fresh $70,990 Ford Tourneo Titanium X is the next cab off the rank. It represents Ford’s most concerted effort in this market sector since the Galaxy, which went out of production in 2020 after a 27-year lifespan. Sadly, this excellent vehicle was never imported to Australia, Ford pinning their hopes on the seven-seat Everest instead, but the eight-seat Tourneo represents something bigger and bolder that may well pique the interests of Aussie buyers.

For many people, the modern people mover is best exemplified by the Kia Carnival, which is represented here by the range-topping $76,210 GT-Line Hybrid variant. It’s the only one of this bunch not to be spun off a commercial vehicle and this simple fact is what has kept it popular. In fact, such is the market dominance of the Carnival that it outsells the rest of the people mover market in Australia combined. So it’s instantly positioned here as the pre-event favourite at virtually unbackable odds.

While the Carnival introduces a degree of electrification to this review, the $91,290 Volkswagen ID Buzz Pro LWB isn’t dithering, relying on a 91kWh battery pack to drive its rear wheels. It’s a welcome pop of colour, character and frivolity in a line up that otherwise looks like a convoy of diplomatic vehicles en route to a G7 conference. But is it style over substance? That’s what we’re looking to discover today.
The Mercedes-Benz V-Class might be more targeted for the chauffeur market than cash-strapped parents, but it’s nevertheless a smart and practical solution, especially if your kids are older and you certainly need two rows of seats. It feels a cut above the others here in terms of interior ambience, as perhaps you’d expect at its asking price. What’s more, it represents a formula that has matured very nicely into its particular niche.

All of the contenders here carry five-star safety rating, as you’d expect given that they’re hauling your family around, so we’re not going to dive too deeply into safety features unless certain features represent an omission or are otherwise worthy of comment.

5. FORD TOURNEO TITANIUM X

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Rarely has 125kW and a vehicle the size of Jeff’s Shed felt like quite such an appealing combination but if you were asked to take one of these MPVs for a country drive on great roads, it’d be the Ford’s keys you’d reach for first. Why? Because Ford can’t help themselves. The company has a certain reputation for vehicles that steer well and the Tourneo is no exception. That’s both a blessing and a curse.

Without getting too road-testery, what’s happened here is that the Tourneo’s chassis team have prioritised body control over ride comfort. So the big Ford is a hoot to pitch into a corner, with firm and positive steering and a chassis that communicates exactly what’s going on at the slightly tortured contact patch of its front tyres. The thing is, you pay for that sort of connection with rigid damping that’ll have you wincing in anticipation the moment you spot a speed hump ahead. That’s exacerbated by a noticeable rattle from the tailgate.

Upon first acquaintance, the cabin feels slightly Spartan, but it’s clear that a good deal of thought has been put into the practicalities. There’s a tray atop the dash panel that even gets its own USB-C ports,and every one of the six rear seats can be removed and reconfigured as required. Three facing three? No problem. The rear bench splits 60/40 and unless you’ve been hitting the gym a bit, it might be better advised to enlist a helper to lug that heavy section out.

If you ever need to use the Tourneo as a van, you can just leave the seats in the garage and have at it. The front seats are laterally supportive but there’s not an excess of padding, which can make them feel a little unyielding. On the plus side, with no centre stack between the two front seats, it’s easy to clamber into the back to retrieve gear if necessary. The 14-speaker B&O stereo has no issue filling the big cabin either.

There are some parts of the finish that are a little unrefined though. The window within a window opens with a cheap feeling tilt clip, and if you raise the steering column, shoddy-looking exposed wiring is visible under the dash through the steering wheel. The big screen – with its inset vehicle starter button – is a winner, with clean and easy navigation and decent responsiveness.

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Quite how the massive glass roof copes with an Aussie summer given that it has no retractable sunshade is open to question. You don’t get tray tables on the backs of the front seats either. The front seats have seat heating and the outboard second row also has a seat heater button mounted low and on the nose of the seat cushion. Everyone gets USB-C access, but the rear seat requires the middle berth to be tumbled forward and feels a good deal more claustrophobic than the airy Staria.

Ultimately, the Tourneo struggles to set a great deal of distance from its commercial origins. It’s the only one of this group without a powered tailgate and it’s easy to mistake it for a van with its dark privacy glass at the rear. If you’re looking for an eight seater that’s keenly priced and which feels agreeably lively to drive, it’s well worth a look. Family buyers may well be looking for something a little more cosseting in feel though, which is why in this instance and for that specific purpose, it finishes fifth.

4. MERCEDES-BENZ V300d AMG

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Firstly, an acknowledgment that the V-Class isn’t exactly playing on home turf here. If you’ve just landed at a foreign airport and are expecting a chauffeur to whisk you and your family to the comfort of your hotel, there’s absolutely nothing here you’d rather waddle out of the terminal and see idling in the Kiss & Fly than a V-Class. It’s going to get you, your family and all your gear there quickly, reliably, safely, comfortably and with a reassuring degree of polished discretion.

But that’s not why we’re here today. This is all about how well the vehicle fits as family transport, and while it may be a niche player among private buyers, there does exist a slice of that market who appreciate the qualities the three-pointed star brings and are quite willing to spend up in order to acquire them.

Park yourself behind the wheel and there’s no question that there’s a certain level of reassuring feel-good factor about the big V. The dash is finished in a matte carbon fibre effect that looks hardwearing and easy on the eye, although the plastic surround next to the touchpad controller is a big slab of scratchy hard plastic. At least it’s not piano black though. Small mercies and all that.

The Lugano leather seating feels agreeably plush, and the ambient lighting and jet-turbine like air vents lift the cabin ambience way beyond the norm for this class, as you might expect when you’re handing over nigh-on $140k.

A pair of 12.3-inch digital displays now sits atop the dash, integrated into one broad sweep, and while both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available, the Mercedes software suite is one of the few that’s good enough to make using native apps no particular issue.

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The second row seating is easy to access, but there’s a marked lack of amenity, with some fairly pinched toe room, a lack of USB charging sockets, no opening side windows and no central cupholders. An overhead air-con control panel and a couple of reading lights is about your lot.

The third row trades the second’s recline function for a bit more space for your toes, along with detachable cup holders, side storage bins and a pair of 12v sockets. Each row can fold and slide, and while the all-metal adjustments look as if they’ll never fail, the stiff and snappy mechanisms aren’t things you’d probably want the kids trying to manipulate. Moving round to the back, there’s a horizontally split luggage bay, with a clever basket system built into the vestigial parcel shelf. The 542 litres of space available with all seats in place trails the other big ’uns in this test, the Ford and the Hyundai.

On the road, it’s much as you were, with a relatively low driver’s seat for a commercial-based product, a carryover turbodiesel powertrain and a polish to the feel of the major controls. Were we choosing, we’d probably skip the racy-looking 19-inch AMG alloys in favour of something with a little more sidewall, as the ride can be firmish on poor surfaces and open-pore concrete roads transmit a fair degree of noise into the cabin. The excellent Burmester stereo can help see to that though.

While the V-Class feels agreeably upmarket inside, it lacks the sort of extra-mile practicality that distinguishes the top three here when it comes to family transport. Were you reasonably price insensitive and looking to make a statement, the V-Class more than stands up, but in this context, it’s beaten by three talented specialists.

3. HYUNDAI STARIA HIGHLANDER CRDi

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Full disclosure: Hyundai has just treated the Staria to a very modest refresh, but didn’t have the new vehicle available at the time of this review.

This vehicle is the last of the outgoing models and the update includes rain sensing wipers, Bluelink connected car services, a revised key fob, aluminium exterior badging, USB-A ports replaced by USB-C, and the Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA) has been replaced with Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW). So worthwhile, but fairly modest and in no way affecting the outcome of this comparison.

Otherwise it’s much the same as the Staria that’s been with us since 2021. The styling is bold and adventurous, with its sci-fi visage. It’s also surprisingly divisive, which is odd given that it’s had this long to bed in with consumers. Jump inside and the sheer amount of glass is still a bit of a shock. The side windows are so deep that it feels as if other drivers can see your knees.

This volume of glazing and low scuttle line gives the Staria cabin a beautifully airy feel, helped by the
fitment of a dual panel glazed roof. Hyundai’s been in the people mover business for more than a quarter of a century, the 1999 Trajet being its first attempt, so it has picked up plenty of experience in building something large and practical. In certain places however, despite this being the flagship model, it’s possible to see where the Staria has been built to meet a price.

The cabin plastics aren’t anything to get too excited about and there’s a nostalgic 1990s smell to their gradual denaturing. The piano black finishes will get a bit sebaceous in short order, the rear row doesn’t slide or recline and there are no power options in the luggage bay. You need a cable too if you want to mirror your smartphone. From there, the news gets better.

You’re certainly not found wanting for cabin storage, with three glove boxes in and around the dash panel, a huge deep centre bin, big door pockets with bottle holders and handy cubbies for the rear passengers. This Highlander is also equipped with dual 10.25-inch screens, a wireless phone charger, leather upholstery, heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, that dual power sunroof and a 12-way adjustable driver’s seat. I counted no fewer than 16 cup holders, six USB chargers and you get powered sliding doors and tailgate. There’s even a rear seat supervision camera fitted.

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Refreshingly, there’s even a decent amount of luggage space when all seats are in place. You get 831 litres, which might not mean a whole lot without context, so imagine you’re tossing up whether to buy a Staria or a big seven-seat SUV like a Hyundai Santa Fe. With all three rows in place, the Santa Fe’s luggage space is so tiny Hyundai seems too embarrassed to quote a figure for it. Fold the rear row and that space steps up to 628 litres, whereas if you drop the rear row in a Staria you have pretty much double that at 1303 litres. It really is a night-and-day difference in practicality. What’s more it does all of that while still packaging a full-sized spare wheel and tyre.

The only all-wheel drive vehicle in this test, the Staria majors on comfort. It’s an endearingly soft thing to pedal along, and the 2.2-litre turbodiesel can be a bit vocal when pressed, but as long as you manage weight transfers sympathetically, your family will love its cosseting nature. The push-button gear selection system is foolproof and its only drawback is that it sometimes plugs you into a gear too high, causing the engine to labour somewhat. Fortunately, there are also paddle shifters behind the wheel to snick the eight-speed epicyclic auto down a gear manually. Road noise does find its way into the cabin though, as the Kumho PorTran tyres aren’t the quietest. It’s no match for the slick Kia Carnival in that regard.

The Staria emerges with a stack of credit. It’s big, friendly, easy to operate and well equipped for the price. The styling is a bit Marmite but if, like me, you’re an admirer of its modern brutalist design, the big Hyundai offers a blend of talents that easily make it the value pick of this particular bunch.

2. VOLKSWAGEN ID BUZZ PRO LWB

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It’s usually a good indicator as to how desirable a vehicle is when the road testers are wheedling for the keys at the end of the test. Upon wrapping up the last of the group shots it was the Volkswagen ID Buzz that everyone wanted to take home. To look at it is to understand why. Everything else here is resolutely sensible, even a little po-faced. The Buzz’s bright beach bus vibe and punchy power delivery endeared it to everyone. It’s one of those vehicles that your kids will absolutely fall over themselves for.

Whether they’ll be quite so amazed by it after the initial novelty wears off remains to be seen. As the only seven-seater in this test – everything else can seat eight in a 2-3-3 formation – the ID Buzz gets slightly marked down on ultimate utility and if you do have all the seats in place, the 306 litres on offer is good but considerably less than half of what the Staria bowls up. So you need to amend your expectations somewhat if you’re looking for the last degree of practicality. Likewise, there will be some who may not feel that their domestic arrangements are an ideal fit for an EV.

These caveats aside, there’s a lot to like about the Buzz. It’s probably not priority one for MPV buyers, but it’s worth noting that it’s a lot of fun to drive, and any vehicle’s worth is multiplied if you simply look forward to using it. If you resent a ‘distress purchase’ of an MPV, then the Buzz is the perfect antidote and represents a fresh and viable lifestyle alternative to the ubiquitous seven-seat suburban SUV.

With a 91kWh (86kWh net) battery affording a claimed 452km, it’s got a fairly decent range, and it’ll recharge from 5-80 per cent at its peak 200kW DC rate in 26 minutes.

It’s worth keeping an eye on the options you choose. This car swaps the standard 19-inch alloys for 21-inch items ($1900) and adds two-tone paint ($4100). The reason why it’s worth a bit of consideration when box-ticking is that this version of the Buzz just squeaks beneath the 2025 Luxury Car Tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles of $91,387. Start piling on options and you’re gifting the ATO a big slice of that additional spend.

There’s decent space inside with presentable access to the third row, the second seat tumbling forward and leaving a sizeable gap for the kids to clamber through. A fairly well hidden fabric pull tab even allows the third row to recline by up to 16 degrees, affording an expansive view overhead through the glass roof. This features a laminated film that dims to a milky opacity at the touch of an overhead haptic slider. There are sliding side windows to vent the second row and seat-back tables.

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Between the front seats is the removable ID. Buzz Box, a plastic cubby system which features a five-litre drawer as well as cup holders, an ice scraper and a bottle opener. It’s simple to unlatch and lift out if you’d prefer through access to the rear, although re-attaching it requires a steady hand and some precision to get its latch and eye system to re-engage.

The second row is a good place to be, with a sliding seating system affording a stack of legroom which, when paired with generous seat recline, makes the Buzz a great ‘third place’ to wind down in comfort.

The tailgate of the ID.Buzz is powered and the boot is somewhat pinched when all three rows are in place, with just 306 litres available. In five-seat guise there’s a hefty 1340 litres available. You can option a Multi-flex board that raises the boot floor but allows for two storage boxes that slide beneath, keeping valuables out of sight. Alas, no spare wheel and tyre set.

There’s more substance to the ID Buzz than at first meets the eye. It’s a great family option, albeit one that can afford to sacrifice outright space for an element of sass and style. We love it, but accept that it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste.

1. KIA CARNIVAL GT-LINE HEV

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It’s called the frequency illusion. Once you’ve taken the time to take notice of a thing, you start seeing that thing (previously almost invisible to you) everywhere. The Kia Carnival is a case in point. It was only after this test that I paid attention to the sheer density of these things on Australian roads.

Last year, Kia sold 5173 Carnivals. The next best-selling vehicle in this test, the Hyundai Staria, registered 565 units. That market dominance, as evidenced by a massive 82.3 per cent market share, coupled with the fact that this KA4 generation Carnival has been with us since 2020, explains why the local school run is chockers with them. They just work. Really well. And not one is even out of warranty yet.

This hybrid version is a bit different, having debuted last year. It’s a beautifully refined 1.6-litre petrol-electric powertrain that betters the fuel economy of the existing 2.2-litre CRDi diesel, the major downside being that it’s only offered in flagship GT-Line guise at a hefty $76,210. If Kia could bin the existing solus-ICE engined Carnivals and start the range with a hybrid at around $55K, the world would be an incrementally better place.

It’s easy to see why buyers flock to them. The driving position is car-like, removing the feeling that you’re driving a fenestrated plumber’s van. Even with all the seats in place, there’s a reasonable level of space, and it even makes all sorts of sense if it’s just going to be used as a two-row with bags of storage. The luggage bay is ultra deep, the rearmost seats flipping into that hole to give a near flat load floor to the second row.

The kit list is impressive. Wireless phone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, stacks of USB-C connections, a punchy Bose stereo, fan control and ceiling vents for each row, individual sliding and folding second row seats, rear electric windows and four ISOFIX mounts are a combo unmatched by any of the other vehicles here.

The hybrid drive system packages a 1.5kWh battery where the spare tyre would reside in ICE
Carnivals, so you only get a can of sealant to help you out if you get a puncture. This, coupled with the 72-litre fuel tank and a 5.8L/100km fuel consumption figure means you probably won’t be on first name terms with the guy at the servo. You also get 180kW and 366Nm system output, with the front electric motor chiming in with peaks of 45kW/304Nm. That grunt goes to the front treads via a six-speed automatic gearbox. One downside of the hybrid drive system is that you only get 1000kg of braked towing capacity versus double that for the ICE-engined variants.

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There are bigger MPVs in this test, there are more extrovert ones and there are significantly more affordable ones. But building an MPV has always been about managing compromises smartly, and no vehicle does that here quite as adroitly as the Kia Carnival. As it stands, with the hybrid system only available on the flagship, most buyers will still gravitate to one of the diesel variants, but there’s a silken polish to the hybrid’s dynamics, marred only by an overly snatchy brake pedal that’s particularly noticeable if you engage the auto-hold function. With familiarity it becomes something you accustom yourself to.

Big enough but not too big, slickly presented without appearing ostentatious and beautifully finished, the Carnival adds the cherry on top with the best warranty of any of the vehicles on test. It wins, and by some margin, proving there’s plenty of life in the MPV form factor when it’s done well.

This article originally appeared in the August 2025 issue of Wheels magazine. Subscribe here and gain access to 12 issues for $109 plus online access to every Wheels issue since 1953.