UPDATE: Kia VG spied again!
Spys have caught an unknown sedan parked at one of the streets in South Korea. Heavily camouflaged vehicle on the image above is believed to be the new near luxury sedan, Kia has been developing under the VG codename. Following the future timeline, that recently leaked from Kia and outlines the release dates of future Kia vehicles, the VG is set to go on sale in August of 2009.
Sporty looking Kia VG is expected to be front wheel drive vehicle, closely related to Hyundai Grandeur -known also as Hyundai Azera in US market. Details are yet to be released, but we can speculate that the VG could be powered by either a 3.8L Lambda V6 engine or a more powerful 4.6 V8 Tau engine when it hits the market.
Follow the jump to see more spy shots of the cloaked in camouflage VG sedan.
Update: New spy shots now available…click here!
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July 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I can´t agree with the opinion, Kia VG will be closely related to the Hyundai Grandeur. My opinion is that VG will be related to Hyundai Genesis.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
It seems to be a bit sleeker than the Genesis. Not bad.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SOOOOOO LOOOOOONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! C’MON SCHREYER SHOW US SOME OF YOUR MAGIC!!!!! THE H-GRILLE, INTEGRATED TAILPIPE, MIRRORS THAT FOLD UPWARDS…. CAN’T WAIT!!! Only if the Genesis had the integrated tailpipes too~
Anyways, I also think this is the Kia version of the Hyundai Genesis/BH (Kia CH)… The wheels are taken straight from the V6 Genesis with the Technology Package too…
July 16th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Oh yeah.. why don’t people take interior shots these days?!?!?!?!?!?!?
July 16th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I saw the picture without cover ….. not bad looking esp the black color, quit sporty.
July 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
do you think this will replace the Amanti in North America, as the Amanti needs serious image overall to improve the sales on it.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I’m sure this will come along the Amanti replacement. In my opinion, VG will compete against next Ford Taurus or Toyota Avalon.
Amanti will be replaced by CH model which will be more luxorious. It might even share its platform with the Genesis sedan. And that mens the first RWD Kia ever.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
please Kia motors call it ENTERPRISE!!!!, the FWD or RWD, kia must be doing the cars more sportier and then all D segment cars will be RWD like potentia and enterprise in the past…
July 16th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I just saw a dark red wine Amanti at the dealership yesterday. I also saw the partially facelifted Sorento. If this isn’t Amanti replacement, what is it? Amanti replacement is CH. All I can say is thank God that Amanti is still here until 2010. That is such a sweet car!!
July 16th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
You know if this isn’t the Amanti replacement I hope Kia doesn’t expect the aging Amanti to sell after 09′ Optima and this VG debuts. I bet this thing is very aggressive though. It looks oh yeah it has its been Scherylized!!!
July 16th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I bet this is on the new Sorento’s platform.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:46 am
The grille does look “Amanti-ish”
July 17th, 2008 at 2:15 am
i thought the new sorento is BOF… its most likely based on the Genesis/BH. just look at the proportions… the rear doors are cut exactly like the Genesis’ and it wears Genesis’ shoes… i think that is enough evidence.
anyways, amanti is the ugliest car on earth (excluding some chinese stuff) and should have never even left the design studio. no arguments. end of story… and so on.
eronec-where did you see this car without the camo on?
July 17th, 2008 at 3:26 am
This vehicle may be a rival to the Genesis but I don’t think this is the CH.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:39 am
It’s side profile reminds me of new Jaguar sedan.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I REALLY dislike the wheels. They are too Hyundai for my liking. I wish that Kia would build enough profit to split away from Hyundai. I am sick of similar designs, sharing platforms, and am especially sick of the company being called Hyundai-Kia!!!!!! Throw on the 9 spoke Amanti wheels, or even the 6 spoke ones. Those are nice. I love the wheels on the Optima, too.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
ummm… greg, the wheels are just there cos this is a PRE-PRODUCTION PROTOYPE. trust me they won’t use the same wheels as the genesis. also, kia wouldn’t even be close to being what they are now if hyundai didn’t rescue them from financial crisis… i dont find the cars similar in design apart from the 4 wheels bit so i dunno what youre talking about there…
July 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
They use the same platforms! How f-ing lazy!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
You know what I just found out about this design. It took me a while to figure out what concept it got its cues from I looked at the Genesis concept and the Genesis production form. Notice how their fronts are diffrent. Yet the VG’s headlights favor the Genesis concept a little more. It’s like the VG’s headlights are a mix between the Genesis concept and the Koup concept. If you ask me I always did think the Genesis concept looked much sportier than the one in production form. What I dont’ understand is why the VG looks so simiular to one of Hyundai’s products. I’m not saying it’s going to look like that I’m just see more simularities than any other Kia concept. So far.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:06 am
FYI: The Avalon will be no more very soon. Their Lexus line covers it already. The Genesis concept was more sophisticated than the production model, quite usual in the industry. If they can translate its sharper lines to this new Kia, I think it would sell. Anything would be better than the limp Amanti. Only its relatively low price helps it sell, ’cause it’s hopelessly outclassed by everything on the market.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:27 am
You guys have wrong information regarding the VG. The VG will be available in either a 3.3L V6 or a 3.8L V6. Come on, use common sense. The “closely related to Azera” car will not pack the 4.6L Tau V8. Smarten up.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:00 am
the avalon can’t be a competitor cuz it’s last year is the 2009 model year & 2010 when the new Camry comes out it’ll offer a long wheelbase version to take place of avalon. Its a way to save $ cuz they don’t have to spend a ton more money to develop & update constantly a separate car… FYI.
I think this’ll be a Genesis-Kia & i can’t frickin’ wait!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:16 am
greg, obviously thats the whole point of buying other companies. you share platforms and get more profit to make better cars for the next redesign or facelift. if you dont understand that, i dont know what to say. i mean, the Hyundais and Kias these days are completely different and now with Peter Schreyer working for Kia and Joel Piaskowski for Hyundai, they are going to be completely unrecognizable from each other in the next gen of cars from Hyundai-Kia.
i say this cos they have different styles and tastes. Piaskowski likes a more complex look as far as i can tell from the Genesis Coupe and the Veracruz, while Schreyer likes simple and clean surfaces on his designs (”simplicity of a straight line” is the new design theme at kia, set by none other than Schreyer). this is approach is also shared by Tom Kearns, chief designer of Kia Motors America, who oversaw the development of the Soul production model and also the Koup concept. quote - “Good design shouldn’t look like you are trying too hard” Kearns.
Kia is as you know going for a youthful and sporty look while Hyundai is going for a more mature, luxurious brand image and to achieve this, they need to get rid of stuff like the Amanti and bring something based off the Genesis and the coupe variant. its only going to make the brand 103040x more desirable.
Kia also opened a new design centre in Irvine to be used exclusively for Kias and already have produced the Soul and Koup as mentioned before so the designs wont even come out of the same studio! if you say that Kia is being lazy, you are either ignorant or stupid. please think twice before posting stuff like that in the future greg…
July 18th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Now that you put it in to perspective, it makes more sense. I really wish Kia would leave 1 luxury model.
July 20th, 2008 at 6:58 am
haha… yeh the car above looks plenty luxurious to me… in fact it looks somewhat better than one of my favorites - the genesis! i really hope it is!
July 25th, 2008 at 8:58 am
From my understanding is that the photos above are the 2010 Kia Optima
August 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
newer pictures here, with less camouflage.
http://globalmotors.net/spy-pictures-20102-kia-vg/