2012 Kia Rio sedan unveiled at New York show

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By Brett Davis | April 21st, 2011

Kia has unveiled the North American version of the Kia Rio sedan at the New York International Auto Show in the US. The compact sedan shares the same platform as the Kia K2 unveiled at Auto Shanghai a couple of days ago only it features a face that more closely resembles the Kia Rio hatch.

The chassis and undercarriage of the Kia Rio sedan is largely the same as that found on the hatch version. Similarly, the interior is configured in much the same way as the hatch, with minor revisions/feature changes here and there.

Under the bonnet sits a 1.6 GDI four-cylinder petrol engine offering 100kW of power. This is tied to a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The engine is also matched to a stop/start system which increases fuel economy in traffic conditions.

Kia Australia has previously said the Kia Rio sedan will make its way Down Under some time in quarter 4 of this year.

Whether or not it will look exactly like this US version is still yet to be officially confirmed.

http://CarAdvice Michael Todd

Looks very good. Baby Optima.

andronicus

If you want the baby Optima then have a look at the K2 for Chinese market.

Kia have a winner with the K2, should be bringing that as the Rio replacement instead of this bug eyed thing.

Not saying this is bad, the other one is just a bit….nicer for lack of a better word. Refined maybe.

darkone

looks like a honda city

Kampfer

Look better than Honda City to me.

Keep the auto under $20k drive-away and it’ll sell like hot cake.

Ford Man

The new Impreza looks abit like the Honda City. This car doesnt burn my eyes so it musnt look like the Honda City.

Sam

The front end is a nightmare

Paul84

That’s because it looks like a Halloween pumpkin…

Richard

I like Halloween pumpkins…

Ford Man

I dont like the grille on this car and the optima. Other than that it looks alright.

mac

Compare this design with the new Honda Civic, Subaru Impreza and Nissan Versa designs in the below articles.

It’s a credit to Kia – they’re really outputting some really sharp looking vehicles at the moment…and showing up some experienced, more established brands.

andronicus

a childs drawing of a car could show up subaru at the moment.

Ford Man

Used toilet paper looks better than the new Impeza.

Little car nutttt

If KIA do bring it with those BIG wheels, Sat-Nav, leather and climate control like the hatch it will sell like hot cakes…… and with Corolla power maybe even be a class leader!!!!!!

Little car nutttt

oh and it also look brilliant!!!!

Sumpguard

I’m a big fan of their new lineup. So much so that I paid a deposit on a Sportage platinum yesterday!

However I personally think that we will get a pretty much bare bones car initially in Australia and they will guage public reaction from there before offering kitted up cars like the Americans will have. That end of the market is the most competitive which is why 4 speed autos are still the order of the day in the Corolla and its competitors.

Same too with engine options. I reckon the first manufacturer to have the guts to put a diesel in one of these small Korean cars will do extremely well. So far that is reserved for the i30 and it sits in the next size class above.

Are Australians ready to pay 30 grand for a small Korean car? Not yet ,but it is starting to change and if KIA and their parent company keep going the way they are it won’t be long until they are accepted alongside the Japanese product by the masses.

This is just my opinion but I think the hatch version of this car is better styled. But that seems to apply to every other car in its class though. It still looks pretty good though.

Kampfer

KIA can if they think we willing to pay $30k for one…

Are you willing to pay $30k for a fully kitted KIA small car?

Interesting to find out how KIA going to price the new RIO with Cerato starting from $19k drive-away atm…

JEKYL & HYDE

looks like a guy-friendly small car as well…
bangel

Front is all over the place , rest is quite nice , they just forgot to put the pen down when doing the front , typical asian design , just one more bit of glitz .
Valet Dabess

looks like a bug
Rob

Why did they rip the dash out of a 15 year old civic?
preckuiw

Toyota and Hyundai are rubbish.. KIA are the future and are better

Phil

Thats funny.

Kia is Hyundai.

The current Rio is a reskinned Hyundai Accent. No doubt this latest version will also be shared as a Hyundai model.

By selling the same cars under a different brand with different styling they can fool the ignorants and gain increased market share.

Sumpguard

People aren’t as ignorant as you think. At least not all of them. I’ve spoken to plenty of people about KIA (we own two of them now) and plenty are aware Hyundai own KIA. By going in different styling directions people get a choice and Hyundai effectively get an extra vehicle in each class. Not so silly.

Ford Man

LOL thats funny. A person saying one Korean manufacturer is better than another Korean manufacturer.

Id prefer to have a Non-Korean thanks. They are both rubbish!
Mat

This is no longer true, Hyundai have about a 36% stake in Kia. This is certainly a controlling share but does not denote ownership.

Jer

Kia K2 has a way better look than this Rio, IMO
Sammo

Give the car some decent non-Korean tires and this car will not only look amazing but drive amazing too!
Martin

Makes you wonder how Ford and Mazda got the Fiesta and 2 sedans so horribly wrong…

Martin

Oh, right. You can’t say anything bad about Ford on here otherwise the fanboys negative vote you.

Ford Man

Im a fanboy but how can you honestly say the Ford Fiesta is horrible wrong? That is truly ridiculous. The car looks alright inside and out. It has bee reviewed as the best engine and suspension set up in the class. I very much doubt this Kia will come near its class leading (as quoted in a number of reviews) peformance.

Martin

Never said the Fiesta was “horrible wrong” I said makes you wonder how they got the sedan so wrong (sedan being the key word there) The hatch looks pretty good all round, while the back of the sedan looks badly proportioned and ugly as though it wasn’t part of the original design.

FCUK

I bet if Toyota had the same design people here would be calling it ugly, but because it’s KIA, it looks good..

Kampfer

I’ve yet to hear anyone say the FT-86 ugly nor boring – just becuase it’s a Toyota.

Opelman

Being a fan of European cars, i never much liked the line up of Kia or Hyundai, but since the appointment of Schrier from Audi, Kia is on a real winner with their cars.
The cars look great, but the quality of the materials still trails that of its Japanese and European competitors.

All in all though, well done!
Ima Hogg

Is the base model going to be the same price?
Hung Low

Is this what a Prius sedan would look like with an uglier front?
Dlr1

All the good bits will be well and truly stripped out when it hits the Australian market at a 14k-16k price point. 14″ steel wheels, no leather, roof, sat nav, fog lights ect.