Kia nieuws

It competed in (and completed) the gruelling Targa Newfoundland last September. Now the same Kia Forte Koup, that was driven by Adam Hill and Mark Kostick of Team ‘Wishful Thinking,’ is now going to be auctioned off for charity. The team, which partnered with The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, managed to raise more than $100,000 during the race, in addition, Kia dealerships across Canada contributed to the cause by committing part of the proceeds from the sale of each new vehicle between August 16 and September 18 last year. The Targa Kia Koup, now having finished its auto circuit tour, is being auctioned on eBay and all proceeds from the sale will go to the Chil…

Kia K2 sub-compact sedan and Kia K5 hybrid to make official premieres at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show!Kia plans to showcase two new four-door sedans to Chinese consumers during the upcoming auto show in Shanghai. The 2011 Shanghai auto show, which kicks off tomorrow, will bring together all major international and domestic carmakers as well [...] Lees het hele artikel

Hyundai and Kia remain unscathed by the parts crunch that is affecting Japanese auto makers, with both companies running their United States-based plants at full capacity and overtime shifts to help meet demand at certain plants. “We’ve been fortunate,” Robert Burns, a spokesman for the Hyundai plant in Alabama, told Left Lane News. “Our parts development team is closely monitoring all our suppliers, but at this point there’s been no disruption.” Toyota, Subaru and Honda announced significant cutbacks to their production schedules at North American plants due to parts shortages, and this development has left Hyundai and Kia, already riding a wave of good fortune, in an …

The 2011 New York Auto Show to host worldwide premieres of the next-generation Kia Rio sedan and Kia Soul 2012 – model year!At next week’s New York Auto Show, Kia will unveil a completely redesigned Rio subcompact sedan and slightly updated Soul crossover. As our previous spy reports revealed, the Kia Soul 2012 – Model [...] Lees het hele artikel

The 2012 Kia Rio and a facelifted Soul will be unveiled at the New York Auto Show next week. The Rio and its five-door hatch Rio5 will get the same design language and H-shaped grille as the rest of the Kia lineup. The Rio sedan was last shown at Geneva, but the Rio5 hatchback will be an all-new debut. Both Rios will feature direct-injection and stop-and-go technology, enabling 40mpg on the highway or better. The new Soul will get LED headlights and more streamlined styling, as well as a host of new six-speed transmissions that will deliver 35mpg. Lees het hele artikel

As the first proof that such a car actually exists, several pictures of what is believed to be a camouflaged version of the upcoming Ki K9 luxury sedan have made in onto the net thanks to an amateur spy photographer. Based on the same rear-drive platform as the Hyundai Genesis, the car would likely share the same engines, meaning we should see either a 4.6-liter or 5.0-liter V8, as well as a V6 engine. As in the new 2012 Genesis R-Spec, the 5.0-liter engine makes 429-hp at 6400 rpm and 376 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm and comes mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. As for a V6, look for 333-hp and 291 lb-ft of torque with as much as 29-mpg on the highway. Not lik…

Today, we are bringing you a new series of Kia K9 spy shots thanks to the fellows from chagal.org. They have caught a heavily-camouflaged Kia luxury sedan while cruising down the highway near Seoul.Kia K9 luxury sedan has been rumored for quite some time now and several reports have already been published by [...] Lees het hele artikel

The Subaru Impreza and Kia Sorrento are currently under the scrutiny of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as the government agency is investigating the cars for serious defects. Approximately 50,000 Sorrentos from 2011 could lose power because of a transmission intermediate driveshaft that could fail, according to four complaints received by the feds. Five more complaints allege that a closely-related driveshaft failure could cause the transmission to break. Approximately 84,000 2011 Subaru Imprezas are being examined for a control arm that could fail due to excessive corrosion. Seven complaints have noted that this has happened at speeds of 50mph or g…

Ward’s Automotive has just announced its new 10 Best Interior awards list, highlighting some of the nicest cockpits in the business. Some are hardly surprises, like the $93,525 Audi A8, while at the other end of the list are the Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS, Ford Focus Titanium and the Hyundai Elantra Limited. Chrysler Group, which would previously not have even been considered for even one spot on the list, was the only automaker with two vehicles in this prestigious category, with the Dodge Charger Rallye Plus and Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit ranking. Hyundai sister-company Kia did, however win a spot with the Optima EX. Notable absentees include brands like Mercedes-…

After a best finish of second during the team’s inaugural run last year, this past weekend Kia topped the podium for the first time ever in the automaker’s history. Competing in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, driver’s Michael Galati and Nic Jönsson piloted their No. 10 Forte Koup to first place in the Street Tuner class at Barber Motorsports Park. After qualifying just 16th, Michael Galati brought the car into the top 10 before handing it off to his co-driver, with Jönsson then taking the lead with a half-hour left, fending off several challenges to secure the win. “After starting the year with two top 10 results and our first podium finish,…

Hi guys, today we want to share about the cutting-edge technology used in the safety features of the stylish and unique all-new Picanto. To make all-new Picanto safer, the high-tensile material has been applied to strengthen the center pillars. The addition of VSM (Vehicle Stability Management) for compact cars has made the all-new Picanto more intelligent, in terms of safety. All-new Picanto comes with improved side-impact protection, thanks to a higher percentage of ultra high-tensile steel (980Mpa) with ring-shaped reinforcing loops within the B- and C-pillars. The body shell is also lighter, leading to improved fuel efficiency. The high-tensile steel (400MPa)…

It was a historic weekend for the Kia racing team in Alabama, U.S. Drivers Michael Galati and Nic Jönsson, lead the No. 10 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup to Kia’s first-ever racing victory in the Street Tuner (ST) class of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) race. A large contingent of Kia dealers and team members from Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) filled the Barber Motorsports Park stands to watch Kia win the Barber 200. At last year’s Barber 200, Kinetic Motorsports’ new Kia Forte Koup drove in its first competitive race with an eighth-place finish. This time, Kia made its first visit to the top of the podium. Jönsson took the l…

Kia Motors announces its global sales figures for passenger cars, crossover and commercial vehicles for March 2011!Kia today announced its global sales for the month of March 2011 totaling 216.219 units sold. The strong March sales represented a 21.9 percent improvement from the same month a year ago.During the month of March 2011, Kia posted [...] Lees het hele artikel

Watch the video with Peter Schreyer, Kia’s Chief designer, talking about the Naimo concept car…The battery-powered Kia Naimo concept car, which made its official worldwide premiere at the 2011 Seoul Auto Show, was one of the stars of this year’s Korean largest auto event. Put on display alongside other Kia cars, including the all-new Optima [...] Lees het hele artikel

Hi, everyone. Today I am going to share with you what I brought back from the Seoul Motor Show last Thursday. At the Seoul Motor Show (www.motorshow.or.kr) this year, Kia introduced various concept cars and new cars (all-new Rio, all-new Picanto, etc.) which were recently showcased at international motor shows. However, the true heroes at the Kia booth were the K5 (known as Optima in some regions) Hybrid and ‘Naimo’ electric crossover vehicle. The Kia Press Conference began at 9:20 in the morning, and a lot of reporters were busy trying to get a good spot. I also struggled to take good pictures. Peter Schreyer, Chief Design Officer of Kia, explained the des…

Next-generation Kia cee’d to get a (274-horsepower?) 2.0L turbo engine, which is currently available in the Optima and Sonata Turbo models.Watch out Kia fans, the South Korean fastest growing carmaker is preparing an assault on mainstream European hot hatches ( VW Golf GTI, Renault Megane RS and Opel Astra OPC) next year, when the next-generation [...] Lees het hele artikel

Kia announces record breaking sales figures for the month of March 2011 as Kia Sorento and Soul crossover each surpass 10.000 sales mark.Kia announced yesterday that it has sold 44.179 vehicles in the U.S. market during the month of March 2011. Its monthly sales rose 44.7 percent from a year ago, and nearly 35 percent [...] Lees het hele artikel

Kia is forging ahead with plans to build a rival to the Volkswagen Golf GTI, complete with a turbocharged engine and class-leading driving dynamics. The new car will be part of Kia’s effort to differentiate itself from Hyundai by focusing on performance and excitement. The GTI rival will likely be based on the well-received Cee’d, which is sold in Europe and other markets. Power will come from the Optima Turbo’s 2.0L 4-cylinder, although the engine could be detuned from the 274 horsepower it currently makes to around 230 horsepower. Kia also confirmed that their new convertible will hit production in 2014, but that it will be based on the Soul, and thus front-wheel driv…

The all-new 2012 Kia Rio will sedan will debut at the New York Auto Show, with a strong possibility that it will house a significantly more powerful engine than its European counterpart. At the Geneva Auto Show last month, Kia unwrapped the Rio hatchback, sporting a turbocharged direct-injection 1.2-liter 4-cylinder engine. North American models, however, are likely to feature the same 1.6-liter gasoline direct-injection engine as found in the new 2012 Hyundai Accent, which makes an impressive 138-hp and should achieve approximately 41-mpg on the highway. Kia hasn’t confirmed as much, but with the Rio a sister car to the Accent and Hyundai-Kia’s long standing powerplant…

All-new Rio is the perfect vehicle for those living life to the fullest with passion. Kia Buzz met up with the product manager of all-new Rio to find out more about this upcoming addition to the Kia line-up. Kia BUZZ: Hello. Thanks for making time for this interview. First, could you please give us a brief self-introduction? Park: I am Min-Woo Park of the Overseas Product Marketing Team, and I have been working for Kia since 2005. I also worked at the Slovakia production unit as a production technology engineer until 2006. And I have held my current position since August 2006. Kia BUZZ: We heard that you were the main product manager for the all-new Rio. Please tell…

Yesterday, we told you about the rising influence women of different ethnicities have when it comes to vehicle purchases. And now, R.L. Polk & Co. has released new information about the correlation between women and the Asian automakers. The Asian OEMs in question are Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Hyundai, KIA, Nissan, Infiniti, Subaru and Mazda, and these companies make up the top picks across all ethnic groups. On the high end, Vietnamese take the top 21 consecutive spots when it comes to Asian brand affinity, while African American women round out the low end of with just seven model selections. Ironically, however, Asian women aren’t buying Asian cars, they inst…

Kia plans to unveil the 2012 Rio 4-door sedan at the forth-coming New York Auto Show...Autoblog editors are attending this year’s Kia’s media event in Phoenix, Arizona, where the automaker will reveal some of its near-future plans. Earlier this day, the Autoblog editors obtained some official information about the 2012 Rio sedan.According to a brief [...] Lees het hele artikel

Autoblog has revealed that the 2012 Kia Rio will make its debut at this April’s New York Auto Show, with an expected 1.4L 4-cylinder making 108 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque. Expected transmissions are a 6-speed manual and an automatic, rumored to be a 4-speed. The sedan will complement the hatchback previously revealed at the Geneva Auto Show. AutoGuide will have complete coverage of the New York Autoshow starting April 20th, so stay tuned to our site for more photos and videos. [source: Autoblog] Lees het hele artikel

With the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid delayed due to a change to the pedestrian warning system, the Kia Optima Hybrid will face similar delays, with units expected to arrive at dealers sometime in the summer, a full 5 months later than planned. The Optima Hybrid, being mechanically identical to the Sonata Hybrid, must also undergo the removal of a switch to disable the pedestrian warning system, which emits a sound to alert bystanders that the vehicle is running while the silent electric motor is online. Hyundai also wants the Sonata Hybrid to debut first, and with supplies trickling to dealers at a very slow rate, the Optima Hybrid must wait on the sidelines until the Sonata h…

Kia Naimo KND-6 electric concept car makes its official worldwide premiere at the 2011 Seoul Auto Show.The Naimo concept vehicle is a small crossover utility vehicle which was designed by Kia’s international design team working at the automaker’s R&D headquarters in Seoul. The vehicle sports a characterized exterior layout with simple lines and solid, muscular [...] Lees het hele artikel