Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    Rumorpile: Kia Plans A Rear-Drive Sports Sedan For 2017

      A Small Rear-Drive Sedan from Kia?!

    Kia has been trying to position itself as the sporty brand to help differentiate it from sister brand Hyundai with mixed success. But a report from Reuters says Kia is working on something that should give it the sporty image it has been desiring.

     

    According to two sources, Kia is working a rear-drive sports sedan to compete against the likes of the BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Codenamed CK, the model will feature three different engine options and will begin production next May.

     

    As Kia has no luxury brand, it is trying to position itself as a sporty brand," a source tells Reuters.

     

    Kia hopes the new sedan is able to replicate the massive success of the Soul.

     

    "Kia hit a home run with the Soul - they figured out how to keep it fresh and fun," said Dave Sullivan, product analysis manager for AutoPacific.

     

    "Apply this formula to a rear-wheel drive sedan and they might be able to go after a younger consumer who is bored with the played-out BMW 3-Series but wants to move out of their Soul they have had since college."

     

    The new sports sedan would be the first one to come out of either brand. But Kia will be facing an uphill battle as Genesis - Hyundai's new luxury brand - is also working a compact sports sedan known as G70.

     

    Source: Reuters

    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Suaviloquent

    Take away any real premise of sport (atleast when compared to the ATS or XE), give it an exterior that is a mash-up of the K900 and Optima, give it a very nice interior for the price, albeit a bit derivative...

     

    I see another car with no real prestige, but plenty of spendy looks for the price.

     

    The problem is that the only thing you could get more that might be over a loaded SXL Optima is RWD.

     

    Which I don't think is very compelling for a Kia buyer.

     

    I think they would have more success with a car that apes the Mercedes CLA, like a sedan and jacked up hatch duo that are clones of that kind of product.

     

    Then use the value for money quotient to have excellent interiors, worthy of a car a class size above, and the tech, which is Kia's Forte... excuse the bad pun, but yeah.

     

    There's more money to be made by Kia by doing something that... ahem.. articulates the needs of buyers who want the aspirational product without the aspirational badge.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

    ×

  • google-news-icon.png



×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search