The 2021 Hyundai Staria Kinder is the cool 'bas sekolah' you wish you had back then

Where our days back then were punctuated by gruff-sounding Mercedes-Benz O309s, the bas sekolah has evolved, and the comfortable vans kids ride in these days hardly look like traditional buses anymore. That's not just a Malaysian phenomenon, as this rather novel 2021 Hyundai Staria Kinder proves.

The Staria Kinder is one of the many variants of the Staria on sale in South Korea, and it's purpose-built for school transport duties.

Child-friendly conveniences

Robocop's bright, Dynamic Yellow suit brings with it several unique exterior additions to keep kids safe during its child-ferrying runs.

You'd notice the extra warning lights on the roof (to alert other drivers that kids are getting on and off the van), a fold-out stop sign on the driver's side door, and an electric side step.

And since kid-friendly is the name of its game, out goes plush Nappa leather captain seats and in place are faux leather seating for 11 or 15 people (depending on variant) in total.

Each seat gets its own seatbelt reminder, and the driver in front gets an integrated controller that controls the MPV's warning lights, stop sign, alarms, and a 'child exit confirmation device'.

The latter is essentially a manually-operated occupant reminder, whereby the driver has to push a button – located at the back of the car – to ensure no child is left behind.

If for some reason a child is stuck in the (turned off) vehicle, there's a button they can press to unlock all doors and sound the alarm.

Other than that, the Staria Kinder bundles along a 'black box' that records sudden acceleration and braking (among others), heated and ventilated seats on the first row, a heated steering wheel, and PM 2.5 pollutant filtration in its air-conditioning system.

Is it kosong-spec then?

Definitely not, as the Staria Kinder gets a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen and the full suite of Hyundai's SmartSense ADAS suite.

That includes:

• Blind-spot View Monitor (BVM)
• Blind-spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA)
• Rear Cross Traffic Collision Assist (RCCA)
• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go (SCC w S/G)
• Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA)
• Surround View Monitor (SVM)
• Driver Attention Warning (DAW)
• Leading Vehicle Departure Alert (LVDA)

What's the price then?

In South Korea, prices for the Hyundai Staria Kinder starts from KRW 34.8 million (~RM 124k) for the 11 seater, while the 15 seater variant is priced from KRW 37.4 million (~RM 133k).

Both variants of the Staria Kinder are powered by a 3.5-litre V6 (240 PS / 310 Nm), running on liquified petroleum gas (LPG), paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Will this come to Malaysia?

Though Malaysia will receive the standard 2021 Hyundai Staria, the Staria Kinder is not something that we'll be getting. Sorry kids, forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, as they say.

Also read: This over Alphard/Vellfire? Priced from RM 359k, Hyundai Staria launched in Malaysia