Comments on: 2009 Kia Forte first details

By: ian

ian — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:00:36 +0000

and neil….lets see if you have that skill to make this kind of “PLASTIC CRAP”

By: ian

ian — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:53:55 +0000

lol….funny thing is that…koreans are the one who “decided” to sell, not “designed” the car… So if you guys think its a copy of civic, why dont you guys say that to the person who designed first generation of audi tt….?

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:10:58 +0000

Is there some reason why this latest pile of Korean crap is impressing all you morons?
Buy one….. then regret the crappy plastic that cracks under aussie conditions…..then try and get spares for the damn thing….. then watch the paint fade and craze…… then take it in for a service and get it back with a head bolt GLUED in place because it snapped……
Yep…hope you all enjoy it……. suckers.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:37:25 +0000

Hi guys, because I was interested too, I asked Kia Australia’s PR guy about this car about this and this was the reply I got (July 29):

“We hope to launch a replacement for the current Cerato in Australia by the end of the year. When launched next month in Korea, the Forte will be the local market replacement for the current model Cerato. We have already indicated that the Cerato currently on sale in Australia will be replaced towards the end of this year, although I expect there will be styling changes for export versions.”

So it isn’t too far off by the looks of things. I wonder what will change though styling-wise.

By: Owen

Owen — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:46:55 +0000

The significant advance of the i30 personifies Hyundai’s development as a mainstream quality builder (the manual diesel is fabulous value for money). Should this new Kia be the equivalent leap ahead in terms of engineering and build quality (interior ‘feel’ being a major selling point personally) then Kia are on to a good thing. Critics dismissing this model on the basis of three photos are not the market Kia is aiming for. Judge whether this is rip-off junk ‘after’ you have driven it, sensed it and seen it in the flesh. We are most fortunate in having healthy competition in this market segment. Bring it on!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:29:55 +0000

“Martin Says:
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm

I don’t understand why people are saying “it looks like this” or “it looks like that” In its own right, it doesn’t look a thing like any of the other cars mentioned.”

You are joking right? Use google, you’ll soon find the exact opposite.

There is nothing worse than a car brand trying to make their way by stealing designs and selling them as their own.

This is clearly a Honda Euro/Civic Type R front and Lexus back and I sure as heck would be buying either of those cars before touching this rip-off piece of junk.

By: ScottB

ScottB — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:00:25 +0000

Looks good. Definitely some Honda influence there, but all in all it looks good. Much better than any of their current offerings.

By: Hugo

Hugo — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:36:25 +0000

Given that this’ll replace the Cerato down under, it’s logical competitor is the Toyota Corolla.

And it’ll be a couple of grand cheaper (Cerato begins at $16,990) and better equipped (ESP, anyone?) to boot. If Kia can pinch a couple of sales from Toyota and show us Aussies that Korean cars aren’t all tacky plastics and poor drivability; well more power to them.

By: Myke

Myke — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:34:23 +0000

They haven’t brought over the Ceed as at this stage it is only built in Europe and therefore you’d have to pay an extra premium over the i30, which is pretty much the same car underneath.

By: Yianni

Yianni — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:58:53 +0000

Wow this is actually a very good looking medium sedan. Hopefully the quality and reliability will be on par with Hyundai since KIA is owned by them.

I see big things from Hyundai and KIA in the future.

Front end is definitely Accord Euro/Civic and rear Civic/Lexus IS250.

All those are very good looking cars. Hopefully they can keep the prices at a reasonable level at ~ $20.000 and they will have a winner.

KIA also needs to being the CEED and PRO CEED over from Europe. I have no idea why they haven’t since its rated very highly in Europe and is a fantastic car. And more and more people are downsizing their cars and this would be perfect.

By: D 1 0 N

D 1 0 N — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:22:26 +0000

Ahh yeah I meant the current generation IS250, sorry, I thought the IS300 was the new one cos it had the higher number :-P

But yeah, the rear is very similar, as are the overall impression of the grille and headlights

By: Eddy The Expert

Eddy The Expert — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:17:25 +0000

Si1982, my Grandfathers right testicle poking out his shorts and sitting on the lounge looks better than the Tiida Sedan.

By: si1982

si1982 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:08:51 +0000

nice! i like it. I like it a lot more than the Toyota Corolla and I bet it will be cheaper than the corolla.

Its got nice proportions.

I think it looks a lot better than the Nissan Tiida Sedan too.

Wonder what pricing is expected for this here?

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:05:21 +0000

I don’t understand why people are saying “it looks like this” or “it looks like that” In its own right, it doesn’t look a thing like any of the other cars mentioned.

It looks like agreat car, hopefully Kia will give it the ride and handling to match the looks, and they will be on to a real winner.

By: Naughtyius Maximus

Naughtyius Maximus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:17:08 +0000

CLASSY AND SPOT ON STYLE AS LOOKS THE GOODS EASY…..Kia and Hyundai alliance is nailing some great lookers and turning over updates much more readily the others!

Beware of Kia / Hyundai and Ford in particular as they will hit hard withing minimum 15months Iam tipping!

By: Allan

Allan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:59:33 +0000

Nice actually, hopefully the interior (and overall) quality is as good as the car looks. If its priced right, im sure it will sell pretty well. Now if only it had a different badge on it…

By: Golfschwein

Golfschwein — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:58:20 +0000

Okay, the tail lights, then. As for similarities to the previous generation Lexus IS, as much as I try, I can’t remember what it looks like.

How can that be?

By: Eddy The Expert

Eddy The Expert — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:26:55 +0000

Tom Says:
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I can see european styling cue’s. But it still comes off as fairly appliance looking.
It’s no civic style wise.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

If the Civic is the bar by which you judge style buy, you obviously have very low expectations.

By: Ben Dova

Ben Dova — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:55:51 +0000

It has a lot of Honda in the front end, and a lot of Lexus from the rear quarter. Overall, very nicely done. Take not Subaru! Either way, i would not go anywhere near the thing with my own money.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:23:11 +0000

Im not sure but I think D1ON might have ment the current Lexus IS which is actually the IS250. The IS300 was the previous generation and if you ment that D1ON, then go and compare pictures of them. I do think the rear has a taste of the current IS. Over all I think its a good looking car. I wouldn’t buy one, but thats just badge snobbery!