Kia Magentis – next generation Kia Sedan

Just like its big sister company Hyundai, Kia Motors is on a fast track to the top.

The Koreans are on a mission, and that mission is to be the dominant player in the volume car game.

And for anyone in the know, they’re well and truly on the way to doing just that, by building great looking quality vehicles at the right price.

Any doubts you might have, are summarily dispelled with just one look at the new Hyundai ix35, or the strikingly similar iteration from Kia, the  new Sportage.

So you shouldn’t be at all surprised at the visual treat that is the next generation Kia Magentis.

This car is bound to turn heads at the New York International Motor Show next month, where it makes its world premiere.

Kia design guru Peter Schreyer (he penned the original Audi TT) is the man responsible for this new direction, which is likely to put even more pressure on the Japanese carmakers such as Toyota and Mazda.

Styling wise, both Kia and Hyundai may already be ahead of the Japanese giants, if models like the new Kia Cerato and ix35 are any indication of what is to come.

But what is really interesting with this next generation Magentis is how close the car looks to the actual concept sketches.

So often, great looking concepts are discarded by omnipotent bean counters for more conservative approaches, which can be bitterly disappointing from a brand perspective.

Moreover, it’s often the styling that will convince nervous buyers to jump ship and take a chance on a manufacturer that they may have avoided in the past.

The new Magentis is longer, lower and wider than the current car, and with a coupe like appearance and low profile, it should be a big hit with savvy new car buyers.

And its not just the exterior styling that Kia seems to have nailed. Equal effort has gone into spicing up what were rather bland, if not, low rent interiors.

Created by the Kia design team in California, we are told that the interior will be similar to that in the latest Kia Sportage.

That is, the car will be spacious with class leading safety and luxury specifications, while being very much a driver-focused cabin.

CarAdvice will bring you coverage of the New York Motor Show including a photo gallery of the new Kia Magentis.