Here are the first non-official pics of the 2010 Kia Forte. A series of images were taken recently at one of the Kia showrooms in South Korea, where Forte was presented to consumers in advance of it’s official Korean debut. Our daily reader, Mr. Lee, sent us a tip including these exciting new images. Thank you very much for the tip, Lee!
UPDATE: 2010 Kia Forte
The Forte sedan will be the first production model to carry Kia’s new corporate look and will feature sportier design overall. Forte will include more distinctive design elements such as striking side character lines and a subtly designed, chromed grille. The H-shapped grille is set to become a Kia trademark in the future.
Kia will initially introduce the Forte with two gasoline engines. First available, will be the brand new 1.6L four cylinder rated at 124hp. More powerful 2.0L four-cylinder, which hp output has not been released yet, but we predict that engine will deliever higher power rating than the existing engine, currently found in Spectra. The 2.0L will be available soon after the official Forte launch.
The Forte will replace Spectra sedan and is expected to enter the U.S. market by mid-2009. A two door variant, reportedly dubbed the Forte Coupe, will follow later in the year.
Expect more info and plenty of closer images on August 21. when Kia Motors officially pulls the wraps off it’s new Forte sedan. Follow the link below to see more images. Update: More images added!
[Source:Mr. Lee via Forteclub]
July 5th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
WOW, this looks brilliant in black. Can’t wait to be able to see it in the flesh! some interior pictures would be nice too.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I’d love to see the interior pics too, but none were posted so far.
I expect the interior pics to be released in the next few dys.
July 5th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
red turn signals! nice. probably for korea and U.S. And as always with all cars, It looks very sexy in black.
July 5th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
It looked “very sexy” in black, until that lady got her fingerprints ALL OVER my new car! Just kidding.
Is that a silver Lotze/ Optima/ Magentis in the background? This variant of the Forte is probably really similar to what will come to the USA: it looks like they removed the side indicators (boo!), have the reflectors on the side of the front and rear tail lights (for any that don’t know what that is, it’s the orange and red parts that are shiny and reflective in the lamp clusters, required in the USA as orange in the front and red in the rear). amd as Boris said, the red tail lamps. It looks like the tail lamps might have LEDs in them, if you look at the 6th picture it’s got small circles in the cluster on the outer lamp and the inner lamp (the one attached to the trunk/ boot lid). I know Kia has LEDs in the tail lamps on the Mohave (Borrego) and Lotze over in South Korea…
July 5th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I’ts for europe too ,it’s replace the Cerato in europe and Spectra in korean & usa. The interior it’s close to the CEED .
July 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
—tail lamps might have LEDs in them, —
O those pics are new. Yes, it has LEDs.
.
—I know Kia has LEDs in the tail lamps on the Mohave (Borrego) —
LEDS are here as well in UAE on MOhave. I think Kia will start offering Korea spec vehicles to the global market soon.
July 6th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Its been Schreyerlized.
July 6th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I remember when the Jetta was sporty like this.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
what can we see in the interior pic?
I see the door amrest with the window and mirror controls.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Have a look at Kia Forte interior images:
http://www.kia-world.net/index.php/2008/07/07/spied-first-images-of-kia-forte-interior/
July 7th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
seen it commented on it.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I have to say that this is a great looking car. For the first time ever, I’m really considering a Kia as my next vehicle purchase. The Soul and now the Forte really stand out as great looking products.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Are those leather seats in the last photo? It’s a little hard to tell but I think so.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Wow, the alloy wheels on the black or dark blue Kia Forte are ten-spoke and look like my ‘08 Mitsubishi Lancer’s wheels somewhat. Also, some similarities exist in the two car’s taillights sloping shape. This is one sharp looking Kia, I think it will sell well for them. Really looks great, it blows the Corolla, Civic, Sentra, etc. all away! It doesn’t blow the Lancer away, in my opinion, but, then again, if I’d seen this Kia Forte sedan for sale in the spring of ‘07 I’d have traded our ‘01 Sportage 4X4 in for it in a heartbeat!
July 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
JTZ, Kia’s leather is usually wrinkled but its also possible that the seat in the pic has tightly stretched leather with no wrinkles. Yes, Bryan, it competes with lancer but cant blow it out coz the lancer has lots of sporty options [large spoiler, paddle shifters etc.] but I just hope that this one will have a 5-speed if not 6-speed tranny…
July 11th, 2008 at 4:26 am
6-speed tranny would be awesome in the Forte but if it had a 5-speed that would be better than nothing. I would’ve loved getting a 5-speed Mitsubishi Lancer GTS but instead opted for the magnesium paddle shifters and the CVT automatic. It’s turned out to be a wonderful way of propelling my Lancer GTS. Very happy with it and I don’t really miss the manual shifting that I thought I had to have!
July 11th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I know. CVT is the best in Trannys.
July 12th, 2008 at 5:19 am
CVT rocks in trannies!
July 26th, 2008 at 7:14 am
It looks alot like the previous gen. Acura TSX blended with the Lancer. very nice.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:51 pm
This looks like a bastard child between the new Acura TSX (front) and the Mitsubishi Lancer (rear). Can Korean come up anything on their own at all, or do they just have to steal design ideas from others and call it their own? Shame on Kia. Shame on Koreans.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Shame on you! Are you insane?? Koreans take Japanese awful designs and make them desirable. You must be the mix of Michael Jackson and Mickey Rooney.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 am
Then you must be the mix of Anna Nicole and Kim Jong-Il. Hay, I’m expressing my opinions here. Tough if you can’t handle it. And if you love Korean cars so much, expecially this cheap knock-off econobox, go get one. You two deserve each other.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Korean has nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of cars resemble other cars…..people don’t really buy out-landish cars generally.
Sounds like Eddie has an axe to grind………i.e. Korean-car hater. Oh well, the dinosaurs can’t keep up with emerging realities. Kia is doing very well, presenting exciting cars, and making profits. This car is gorgeous….and that’s MY opinion.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
An interesting view of the automotive industry. Where do you see the future of the industry, will it ever recover or will there be major casulties?
April 9th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Kia/Hyundai will gain market shares from dying brands. Like they have been doing for 15 years in the USA. The next step will be having the brand image redisgned so people can see the value with Style and Reliabilty not just price. As for the rest of the auto world, maybe they should look to Kia/Hyundai and see how a automaker should be run.