Kia Motors Corp. plans to develop a compact car designed specifically for the Chinese market, the company said yesterday.
Although details of the project have not yet been finalized, company officials said that the new model will be a compact car. Company officials added that the project is aimed at producing vehicles more affordable for Chinese consumers and will be designed specifically to suit their tastes. According to Kia, Chinese drivers favor brighter colors in comparison to local consumers.
The vehicle will be produced at Kia Motors’ plants in China and is likely to be priced lower than the Rio in an effort to increase price competitiveness of Kia vehicles and boost sales. Over 200,000 Rios have been sold in the country since 2002. The Rio, locally known as the Pride, is priced between 50,000 yuan ($6,800) and 105,000 yuan depending on the trim level.
Unlike the Rio – and other Kia Motors vehicles marketed in China that have undergone slight modifications to increase appeal to Chinese drivers – the new project aims to develop a vehicle tailor made for the Chinese market from the very beginning, a Kia Motors official said. [Source: Koreaherald]
December 18th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Nice car. Too nice for China. :/
December 18th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I like the design concept. I would like a design like that to replace the Rio. It has a very similar front end.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:43 am
This is the the drawing of the current Rio actually. I didn’t mean to confuse readers and let them think that this is the car mentioned in the article!
December 19th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I thought the Picanto was sold in China? Unless this is between Rio and Picanto (why?)
December 20th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Nope JTZ, Picanto is not sold in China right now. The smallest Kia vehicle avaliable is Kia Rio.
Regarding the compact car Kia plans to develope for China: I’m not sure if any automaker is capable of building large car that’s implementing latest safety, environmental and quality standards for the money quoted in the article above! That’s why I expect Kia to build a small and relatively simple car.
December 21st, 2007 at 11:17 am
Hey, this is Boris from my vacation in India. Hyundai is doing great with theier small cars here. The Getz, Santro (Atos prime) and Verna (Accent) sell great. Kia should also enter the indian market with picanto and there small cars. Family cars like Carnival and Carens are also welcome her to compete with Innova.
December 21st, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Wow, India. That’s pretty cool!