The previous Sportage crossover was the closest thing that Kia has had to a European smash hit. It must be with considerable trepidation, therefore, that the Korean car maker has succeeded it. Most popular of all in the final year of its lifecycle, the third-generation Sportage registered more than 100,000 sales across Europe last year, … [Read more…]
At risk of puncturing the suspense, the new news is this really is a very agreeable car. The old news is it labours under a terrible name. No, not Kia, you fools. Stinger. What were they thinking of, calling a car Stinger? Anyway, they were stuck with Kia. They actually chose Stinger. The Kia badge … [Read more…]
Go on, take a wild guess at what type of car we’re currently all buying in droves. No, not V8-engined two-seater sports cars, unfortunately, but supermini-based SUVs, and new ones are arriving at such at rate we’ve barely got space for them. This month? Just the four… And yet for all our cynicism, they’re a … [Read more…]
WE PRIDE OURSELVES on being able to assess a car after the briefest of drives, but this is ridiculous. After being bundled out of a bus in the pitlane of the old Nurburgring Nordschleife, I’m hurried into a Kia Stinger GT, a car I’ve never sat in, let alone driven, and waved out on to … [Read more…]
It’s an inescapable truth of life, that no matter how mature and independent you assume to be, what mom thinks is always important. And with the KIA Picanto, that’s an issue, because my mom drives one. Bit of a dilemma… how does one approach the analysis of new car, for fear of offending mom? Fortunately, … [Read more…]
At risk of puncturing the suspense, the new news is this really is a very agreeable car. The old news is it labours under a terrible name. No, not KIA, you fools. Stinger. What were they thinking of, calling a car Stinger? Anyway, they were stuck with KIA. They actually chose Stinger. The KIA badge … [Read more…]
TEN YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL have a very different opinion of Kia. That’s what the execs in their suits and designers with their natty cravats tell me. Looking back, our perception of the company has already changed. Enormously, in feet, because Kia is no longer a bargain brand but a challenger. And soon enough … [Read more…]
Say “KIA NIRO” three times quickly and it can sound like “Canyonero,” that fantastically flawed 35-seat sport-utility vehicle from The Simpsons, a vehicular ode to glorious excess gone awry. The new Niro is essentially the polar opposite of that—a lean, frugal wagonoid, albeit with a twist of the upright and rugged.
Kia gave us plenty of warning that it would eventually build a car like this. Back in 2011, Kia’s Frankfurt show stand featured a rear-drive GT concept, and then, three years ago, Kia unveiled the rear-drive Stinger GT4 two-door concept in Detroit.
Kia has released a set of sketches that preview the new Picanto hatchback. A rival to cars like the Ford Figo and the Hyundai Grand i10, the new Kia will be revealed in its latest avatar at the Geneva Motor Show in March, before sales commence internationally.