Earlier this week, Kia released a few designer sketches previewing the up-coming Magentis / Optima replacement. To spice things up a little bit, we are adding a few real-life spy shots of a slightly camouflaged, near production Optima sedan to the set of official Kia sketches.

The long-anticipated sporty mid-size sedan, which looks absolutely stunning so far, will make its official global debut at the New York Auto Show on April 2nd, according to Kia.

Codenamed TF, the 2011 Optima sedan will first go on sale in South Korea in May, with a choice of two four-cylinder engines: the 2.0L CVVT and 2.4L with Gasoline Direct Injection technology and estimated 200 horsepower.

When the model goes on sale in the U.S. and other international markets, you can also expect to see a turbo engine, as well as hybrid powertrain to join the engine line-up.

We know that next-generation Kia Magentis will share its powertrain technology with Hyundai’s just recently launched Sonata mid-size sedan and that is expected to get a turbo four-cylinder engine soon.

There are rumors that Hyundai will unveil both, turbo engine powered Sonata and Sonata hybrid at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, but we predict that this could also happen earlier, at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Over the past couple of years, Hyundai used L.A. Auto Show to unveil many of its latest production and concept cars. Two years ago, the automaker revealed its hybrid car architecture developed to fit mid-size cars such as Sonata and Optima sedans, while this year they launched a brand-new Tucson crossover and Sonata at the event.

We are really looking forward to finally get a more performance oriented Kia sedan with a turbo engine and a few more ponies under the hood. There’s still some mystery around the up-coming turbo engine, but have learned that the unit will generate around 240+ horsepower.

Our excitement regarding Optima’s engine line-up does not end here. The all-new hybrid powertrain architecture sounds tempting as well. A combination of a four-cylinder engine, cvt transmission and electric motor should provide even better fuel economy ratings than the existing four-cylinder 2.4L already achieves.

With 24 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway, the 2.4L four-cyl. powered Sonata beats just about every rival in the segment and you can expect those numbers to be repeated with the all-new Optima mid-size sedan.

This is what we know about the 2011 Kia Optima / Magentis at this point. With the official premiere approaching fast, you can expect to see more images and read more information about this stunning Kia sedan at our Kia blog, so stay tuned (Thanks for sending us the pics, Lee)

Kia Magentis / Optima spy shots:

Kia releases teaser images of its next generation Optima / Magentis midsize sedan, which is set to debut at the New York Auto Show.

Kia Motors Company released four teaser images of the next generation Kia Optima (called Magentis in Europe) mid-size sedan just a few weeks before its official worldwide premiere scheduled for New York Auto Show.

A fresh design from the ground up, Kia’s latest generation of its popular mid-size sedan is completely transformed and boasts a bold, athletic and sporty exterior lay-out penned by Peter Schreyer and his colleagues at Kia’s design headquarters.

The new model has grown in size. It is longer, lower and wider compared to the previous generation Optima sedan and now features a significantly longer wheelbase and more space for both people and luggage.

According to Kia, the next generation Optima sedan is scheduled to hit the US showroom floor in Fall 2010, while sales in European markets will commence at the beginning of 2011.

Next generation Kia Optima / Magentis images:

Kia unveiled Ray plug-in hybrid concept car at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

Kia Motors has unveiled its “Ray” plug-in Hybrid concept at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, to highlight its innovative fuel-stretching and emissions-cutting technologies.

Following the Kia Borrego Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), the Forte LPI Hybrid, the petrol cee’d Hybrid and the twin-turbo diesel Sorento Hybrid the “Ray” concept is a bold new collaboration between design and engineering and inventively showcases a futuristic four-seat compact saloon based on the Kia Forte platform.

Designed with lightweight and recycled materials, as well as hexagonal solar cells embedded in the glass roof panel to power extra lighting or climate control systems, the Kia “Ray” boasts a range of up to 746 miles.

“It is important to imagine early in the design process what people will want in the future from a green perspective. People want to reduce their carbon footprint without driving carbon copies,” said Peter Schreyer, Chief Design Officer for the Kia Motors Corporation.

“Being green doesn’t have to be an obvious statement anymore and the Kia “Ray” exemplifies a viable blend of modern, eco-minded features for today’s environmentally conscious consumers,” he added.

The stylish, aerodynamic “Ray” combines design and engineering for maximum efficiency, incorporating clean, flush surfaces minimising unnecessary edges giving a flowing profile and a pronounced rear shoulder ending in a slightly higher deck for reduced drag.

The “Ray” also features touch-screen controls, drive-by-wire steering, “cool-glazing” solar glass and a lithium-polymer battery – all possible indicators of future technology from Kia. As a plug-in hybrid, “Ray” is designed to cover driving distances of more than 50 miles using just its electric motor on a single charge, and has a fuel economy rating of more than 202 miles per gallon for a total range of 746 miles.

You should definitely continue your read after the jump to find even more details about Kia Ray PHEV concept car - after the jump!

Kia Ray concept car gallery:

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Second teaser image previews front fascia design of Kia Ray hybrid concept car.

Kia has just released the second teaser image of its latest Ray concept vehicle. The Ray concept is a plug-in hybrid car that is set to be unveiled at the Chichago Auto Show next week. The teaser photo reveals a futuristic design of concept car’s front fascia, which features extended LED headlights and fog lamps integrated into the front bumper.

Official Kia press release:

KIA LOOKS TO THE PLUG-IN FUTURE WITH “RAY” CONCEPT AT CHICAGO SHOW

As Governments and motorists keep up the interest levels in an electric-car future Kia Motors Corporation has revealed the first preview rendering of its latest concept car – called Ray – which will make its global debut at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next month.

Styled by the team at Kia Design Centre America, the Kia Ray project was undertaken to demonstrate how Kia’s evolving design direction would be applied in the packaging of a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The actual car will form the centre-piece of the Kia Motors America display at Chicago and the vehicle will contribute to Kia’s on-going development of alternative-fuel vehicles.

Already Kia has pioneered potentially real-life fuel cell vehicles and has working prototypes operating in California and Korea. Additionally Kia has various hybrid-engined vehicles providing real-world data in various locations and plans to commercialise Liquefied Petroleum Gas hybrid vehicles in Korea within the next 12 months.

Currently no date has been set for hybrid Kia models to be put on sale in the UK but on-road testing of petrol and diesel hybrid vehicles is due to start in Britain this year.

The Kia Motors press conference for the 2010 Chicago Auto Show will be staged at 1:30 p.m. on February 11, 2010.

Auto Show Update: Here’s yet another set of Kia teaser shots. This time, we can show you four high-quality Kia Optima teaser images.

Kia Ray concept image:

Kia Motors America reports January 2010 sales. The 2011 Sorento crossover sales rev up! 

Kia Motors America announced its overall sales for the past month totaled 22.123 units. This represents a 0.1 percent increase over January of last year.

Kia’s January sales were lead by new Sorento crossover, which has just recently been put on sale. It hit the Kia dealerships on January 4th and already in its first full sales month achieved its best-ever sales result in the US market. With sales of 7.398 units, the Sorento was also the automaker’s best-selling vehicle in January.

“The all-new Sorento’s tremendous early performance is a clear indication that its combination of modern design, state-of-the-art technology and available resonates with US consumers,” told B.M. Ahn, president and CEO of Kia Motors America and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.

Forte sedan (together with Forte Koup) also performed pretty good last month. In January, Kia dealers sold 3.732 units, which was enough to take the second spot among the top five best-selling Kia vehicles in the US. The Forte was closely followed by Optima sedan, Rio sub-compact car and Soul crossover with 3.162, 2.398 and 2.145 units sold, respectively.

New Sorento may be blowing up, but Sportage sales went down 81 percent last month. Sportage is an ageing model, still a great value, but it hardly competes with numerous hot-looking crossover vehicles from other automakers. Sales are not expected to improve until the next-generation model hits the dealers later in the year.You can see some new Sportage images at our previous post.

Other models that did even worse were Rondo and Sedona with 356 and 928 units respectively, while sales of discontinued Spectra and Amanti plummeted to zero.

Kia sales – January 2010:

New Kia Sportage makes its official debut ahead of Geneva Auto Show. 

Kia today revealed its long-anticipated next-generation Sportage crossover. The company released a series of images previewing the production-ready Sportage crossover fully undisguised.

As evident from the pictures, the all-new Kia Sportage crossover marks a dramatic shift in design direction for the brand’s popular compact SUV. Like all new Kia vehicles so far, the new Sportage received a distinctive family face with “Schreyer” grille and Sorento-inspired daytime running lights. The combination of high beltline and narrow glasshouse makes it look fantastic, while its plastic body cladding boasts an off-roading appearance.

The new model looks eye-pleasing, but Kia claims that Sportage also offers vastly improved ride quality thanks to a brand-new platform with longer wheelbase. In terms of size, the model is longer, lower and wider than its predecessor and offers more passenger room. The boot space has also increased significantly, according to Kia.

The hot-looking 2011 Sportage crossover is set to hit the Kia dealerships within a few months with a wide range of highly competitive gasoline and diesel engines. Since the model shares its underpinnings with Hyundai’s Tucson crossover, it is expected that both crossovers will share their engines, as well as transmissions.

Kia has yet to release more details, but you can expect to see a 2.0L and 2.4L four-cylinder gasoline engines fitted under the hood of North American Sportage. In Europe, Kia Sportage is expected to get a 1.6L GDI gasoline four-cylinder and a choice of 1.7L and 2.0L four-cylinder diesel engines.

As speculated before, Kia has now confirmed that the world-wide premiere of its brand-new Sportage crossover will take place at the forth-coming Geneva International Auto Show, which opens its doors on March 2nd. If you plan to visit the event, make sure not to miss the Kia stand in the hall 6!

New Kia Sportage image gallery:

Euro- and US-spec Kia Sportage images: