Next generation Kia Rio is set to give tough competition to VW Polo in terms of quality, aesthetics, and endurance.
Kia Motors has made a foothold in the automotive industry with the latest vehicle introductions. Exclusive style, power packed design, and high-end technology is the essence of every new vehicle launched from the house of Kia and the next generation Kia Rio is another feather in the cap of the company.
The next generation Kia Rio is expected to hit the market by the end of 2011. Latest news from Kia representatives suggest that new Rio is going to matchup with quality and technique of new VW Polo but definitely surpass Volkswagen in terms of style as it is being designed by design chief and former Audi man Peter Schreyer.
Great attention is being given to the exterior appearance of the upcoming Kia Rio in order to make the vehicle look unique and distinctive. Its design will be highly influenced from latest corporate models, such as new Kia Venga, 2011 Sportage crossover and 2011 Kia Optima sedan.
During the official launch of new Sportage in the UK, Kia’s design chief Schreyer revealed the new Rio will use the latest corporate grille design. Apart from that, no other information has been released to the press.
How about powertrain technology? The new Rio is expected to share its platform with the upcoming 2011 Hyundai Accent, so you can expect to see gasoline direct injection -GDI technology applied to at least one of the Rio’s engines (possibly the 1.6L gasoline four-cyl. engine). Kia’s fuel-stretching Start-Stop (ISG) system, which switches off and then restarts the engine in congested city driving, is also expected to be available across entire Rio lineup.
More details about the next generation Rio sub-compact, as well as other Kia plans for 2011, will be revealed at the forth-coming Paris Auto Show in October. The fastest growing South Korean carmaker is promising to take the wraps off “something very exciting” at the French exhibition!!
August 11th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Matching VW quality is a step back, isn’t it?
August 11th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Meant for interior materials, ride quality and similar things, not really the reliability.
August 11th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Good Kia , But please Change the name Rio it’s very old and ugly . Thanks .
August 11th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I read this in AUTO EXPRESS like 2 weeks ago LOL. Thanks for putting it up, but a bit late with this one…
August 11th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Oh, well that’s good about the quality. They might call the next Rio the Crescendo. Or maybe the Allegro. I like musical terms as car names. A lot better than “K2″.
August 11th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Kia K2 instead of Kia Rio sounds pretty good to me.
August 12th, 2010 at 1:12 am
The Kia Stacatto. Maybe not. One thing we know for sure, the new Rio won’t have VW’s crappy electrical reliability history.
August 12th, 2010 at 1:13 am
K2
August 12th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Why not just leave the name alone whether we like it or not. Change the name if it’s a completely different car like we do here in America. The buick has had the LaSabre for years. If they changed the name everytime they updated the style we’d have no idea what someone was referring to. LaSabre, Impala, Mustang, Intreped, Town and Country, Sable etc.
August 12th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
True. Look what happened when Ford renamed the Taurus. Sales of the “Five Hundred” were dismal. Kia renamed the Spectra, and Forte sales completely suck for what all that car is. 8k sales a month? The Spectra sold better than that.
August 12th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
and a 6 gear please
August 14th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
what about diesel engines?
August 15th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Was just looking back on the blog, and thought I’d share the top two entries I found. Mostly because I agree with them!
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• James Vander Aalen. Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 6:34 am
“…Dealerships. Kia, some of your dealerships need help. Dealerships that put a “market adjustment” on their cars should immediately lose their franchise and all chances of getting it back. What a sneaky, underhanded, sick and twisted way to ring out money from recession-hardened consumers. I saw your customer service ratings, Kia. You are not getting anywhere with unreputable dealerships.
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Service departments. Dear Kia, some of your service departments should be condemned to HELL. When a customer brings in a vehicle, what should service departments do? They should verify the customer’s problem, attempt to reproduce the problem, fix the problem right, DON’T JUST RESET THE ECU. If there is a problem somewhere in the system, fix it! Check your TSBs! Service departments should have a limit to a number of customer complaints that can be received before the service personnel are replaced. There should be a surprise monthly inspection for all dealerships.
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HOOD PROPS. Kia, I will try to say this nicely…….ARE YOU SO DAMN CASH STRAPPED THAT YOU CAN’T EVEN PUT GAS STRUT LIFTERS IN YOUR CARS!?!??! If I see another hood prop in one of your cars I will rip it off and shove it up the ASS of whoever’s stupid absolutely MORONIC, doltish, asinine, nonsensical, unintelligent and SENSELESS idea it was to ever even conceptualize the very idea of a HOOD PROP!…”
August 15th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
In other words, there is a Kia employee currently hospitalized with a bad case of “Hood Prop Ass”
August 16th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Kia is about saving money while building cars. Having said that, I have always liked their body designs. All the way back to the 1988 Ford Festiva, built by Kia for Ford. With an assist from Mazda. It’s all about economic, sturdy, well-built cars that still make Kia Motors some money. You’ve all heard that GM, Ford and Chrysler had to sludge along by selling trucks and SUV’s and couldn’t make a good small car, because it didn’t return the investment back to them. With Kia they have to cut back somewhere to add a tidge here or there of savings to get a little profit. I always pick the best car out there for me at that particular time, that has what I want for options and bodystyle, performance, etc. Kia is probably the No.1 best bang for the buck carmaker in the world, one that still delivers in the bodystyle department, too.
August 16th, 2010 at 11:10 am
actually you can damanged a hood by dropping it more than 10 inches above where it shuts. In defense of Kia, I see alot of manufactories using drum brakes on the rear of new cars. You have to cut costs somewhere.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:24 am
Right, Scott, you seem to get it. I mean, think about it, are the defiencies in Kia vehicles really a big enough deal to not buy one? Not really. You actually get so much more than you might feel you’re not getting by buying a Hon-Duh, Thai-o-ta or Sue-baa-ruu.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Disc/Drum brake combinations require the use of proportioning valves. I don’t trust drum brakes. There are way too many moving parts in drum brakes.
August 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
My Forte SX has a hood prop and cheap looking inside door-finishing materials. I have trouble believing that the upcoming Rio, a car lower in the hierarchy, would get VW-quality materials.
I can live with the hood prop, but I think Kia should spend a few bucks to improve inside-door materials quality: a piece of cloth in the recess… a soft elbow rest… a silver trim that matches the much nicer one found on the center dash stack.
This being said, I find that in the class, only the Mazda 3 has better overall materials than my Forte. (The VW Golf doesnt count, as it is in a league by itself)
August 17th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Another thing they got rid of is the handy bag hook on the passenger’s side console. Seriously, how much did that thing cost? $2? The money Kia saved by having a hard plastic rear shelf in the Forte, they could have bought a simple gas strut lifter. Hood props are dangerous.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
on another unrelated matter, Kia finally took the Rondo off of Kia’dot’com. this is why I miss the forums. any update on the forums?
August 18th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Goodbye Kia Rondo. They better had killed it that old CUV that never got a facelift. After all why buy a stupid dumb slow Carens when you can buy the 2011 Sportage, Sorento or even the Soul? All vans are stupid dumb and slow and ugly. They take for ever to accelerate after the light turns green. And they take three days and three nights just to make a right turn. Vans are just big stupid dumb and slow. Let me know when Kia decides to kill that dumb slow Sedona too. Ford was smart for killing their dumb slow Windstar. And now Toyota and Honda has new stupid dumb slow accelerating vans for sale. And it seems no matter how much horepower and torque are in those dumb slow, stupid vans, they are still ugly, dumb, slow acclerating vehicles. Why buy a stupid dumb slow van when you can just by a CUV for about the same price? Who came up with the dumb commet about “soccor moms”. Why can’t you take your kids to a game in a CUV instead? Vans are the stupiidest vehicles in mans creation.
August 18th, 2010 at 4:31 am
jtz.. So what do you drive that you are in such a rush- a Ferarri?
Regarding CUVs I had one a 06 Sportage which in 120,000kms was trouble free with only routine maintenance, new tires and one brake light bulb is all it ever needed. And although it had the 2.7 v6 and FWD only on the highway it would start to run out of breath at 120 km/h.
I now have a 09 Rondo v6 5A and it’s twice the vehicle on the highway. Same size engine but 192hp instead of 173 in the Sportage and with different aerodynamics, lower centre of gravity etc. it will easily run 20-30 km/h over the Sportage and still be quieter and more stable and give 6 to 7 mpg better fuel economy.
Can’t speak for all vans but the Rondo is a great vehicle.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:40 am
The Rondo is anything but slow. I wouldn’t call it a van, either. 0-25 MPH the Rondo 2.4 is easily faster than the Optima 2.4 and Sorento 2.4. I have driven a Rondo and a Sedona – both at length. The 2011 Sedona has the same engine/transmission as the V6 Sorento, and it moves. Personally I would rather have a Sedona than an Optima or Forte because of the extra cargo/people capacity. The only reason we aren’t driving a Sedona instead of our Optima is the Optima was 23k loaded, and the Sedona was 31k loaded (in 07). My grandma has a Rondo, and it is like driving a Roof-less Optima – due to its huge greenhouse. The Rondo is great on roadtrips (except the engine generally hums along at 3k RPM, hate the 4 speed). The Sedona (3.8) goes at least .1 seconds faster 0-60 than any Optima model. Not to mention, vans are practical, and that’s what some people need.
August 18th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Greg, totally agree with your comments. And you’re right it isn’t a van but a tall Optima/Magentis station wagon.
I’m glad I got the V6 5A even though it has a belt driven cam system. At 2500rpm I’m doing just under 120 km/h so next to no engine noise and still good gas mileage.
I drove it 12,000 km to Corpus Cristi and back and a great vehicle for trips- good ride, great sightlines and visibility, low wind and road noise and still good fuel economy.
Too bad it seems to be on its way out.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Welll… I’ll be damned!
I took my Forte SX at the dealer for service today and had a look at the models they have in the showroom. Running changes have be made to 2010 models. The SX and EX Forte Sedan now feature upgraded inside door finishing: there is a better-looking semi-soft material at the top, a padded armrest and cloth finishing in the concave section behind the armrest. Much better-looking than on my own car.
I also sat in a new 2011 Sportage and was blown away by the quality and materials of the interior. It *is* in Volkswagen territory.
I have now even higher expectations for the 2011 Optima and even for the next Rio
August 19th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
My Forte can take on the Rondo anyday of the week. And if vans like the Sedona can move, why when I”m behind one I most of the time have to get in another lane because they take 3 hours to get back to 35mph.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I have this strange feeling we will see Rio shots soon.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Maybe not a Rondo, but I would take on a Forte with a Sedona anytime anywhere. Why am I always stuck behind Audis and BMWs? Do those have slow acceleration, too? The type of vehicle it has has nothing to do with how fast it accelerates. It is all about who’s driving it.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
I hope you are right. We ain’t seen no Kia spy shots since Feb or Mar. I was thinking we would have seen them this month but we’re more than half way through it and nothing. I think it will be more than just the Rio now; I think the next Picanto is about ready. And what’s wrong with this blog? I remember this was the blog to look for when searching for spy shots. Heck it used to have spy shots before Edmunds, Leftlane and Autoblog. It even had news of its own instead of just clicking and pasting from other articles. I even miss the reviews. Now its dead.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Ok Greg, you get that slow, big stupid accelerating Sedona and I’ll race you with my Forte next time I’m in Michigan. Lol.
August 20th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I also sat in a new 2011 Sportage and was blown away by the quality and materials of the interior. It *is* in Volkswagen territory.
I have now even higher expectations for the 2011 Optima and even for the next Rio.
BernardP-I appreciate your 2011 model update material. Always interesting to get this kind of information on a brand I love like Kia, because, with my 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS having only 63,400 miles, I am not going to be trading in anytime soon. I rely on reporters or owners to brief me on what’s new from Kia for the U.S. marketplace.
The ’11 Sportage is one of the best looking if not the best looking SUV I’ve ever seen. Just a gorgeous SUV, I doubt that I could find much fault with it if I took one for a test drive. And, if you stay away from those alien pizza-cutter wheels the ’11 Optima is another real looker in the midsize model group. The new Rio is going to be fun to see. I’d love for Kia to make a great small car that would compete globally for them.
And the Kia Ray remains on my “follow it closely” list, for sure. Love to know more about that electric car from Kia.
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Hey HyundaiSmoke guess what I just found out. The reason why we haven’t seen any Rio spy shots, is because the spiers are falling for the decoy. That decoy is the Veloster and the next Azera. I hear that the next Rio is about 3 to 5 miles behind one of those Hyundais. Therefore, the spiers JUST missed what was really important. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I do know that back when the K7 was being tested, it was following the now current Sonata being tested around that time.
August 24th, 2010 at 1:43 am
How are Spy shots of anything of any value? All that come out of spy shots are black-clad cars that look like nothing and bad photoshops.
August 24th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Somehow the Rio escaped spy shots. Someway and how and I’m going to find out. What if the Rio escaped just like the 2006.5 Kia Optima escaped spy shots? Think about it. There are no 2006.5 Optima spy shots so logic suggest that the next Rio must have went the same routes and dark areas being tested. For some reason, Kia is more private of any early teasers than any other car Kia has ever made. I’m thinking Kia revealed the Pop concept this early to get our minds off the next Rio. Well it ain’t happening. There has to be a reason why they would show off their latest concept this early as well as showing off this much. Think about it: When the Kue was first revealed, we just saw the backend in sketch. When the Kee was first shown, it was just a dark colored car showing of its LEDs. When the Soul was first shown, it was a sketch of just the side. The Mesa had a sketch of its front. The Ray was first shown also as a sketch showing the top. So why are we seeing this much of the Pop? They’re up to somthing I tell you!!! And you know what else, I don’t think the Rio is the only Kia that got away from spy shots (Picanto, K9 and Rondo). Kia is up to something I tell you. I can sense it and not just design but another engine. Something unexpected.
August 28th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Waiting….spys!!!
October 11th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
still waiting….
December 27th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
may be by this time it came in market its already 1.5 yr gone
Dona