Kia Motors UK plans to introduce new Rio, Soul CUV and Picanto mini-car to increase its sales!
Kia Motors announced aims to increase its yearly sales from 56.000 units – achieved in 2010 to as much as 70.000 units in the next 24 months. To achieve the 70.000 units sales mark, the fastest growing South Korean carmaker plans to introduce a number of stylish vehicles with great fuel economy to the consumers in the UK.
The all-new Kia Picanto is just around the corner. With its fresh new styling and improved safety, the new Picanto is expected to retain as one of the top selling Kia cars in Britain. Kia aims to sell 6.500 units of Picanto this year and increase its sales to 15.000 units when the three-door and five-door Picanto are available. The carmaker also wants to grab a 10 percent share of the city car segment in 2012.
Following the new Picanto city car will be the all-new Rio hatchback, which is scheduled to go on sale in the UK in September this year. According to Michael Cole, the 2012 Rio will be the main volume booster. “Historically the car has been a little bland and has not done too well for Kia but the all-new car is much more dynamic and “European” therefore I hope it will do for us in the B segment what cee’d did in the C segment,” said Michael Cole, Kia UK managing director.
Before the end of 2011 Kia will also introduce a mid-size Optima sedan with 1,7L diesel engine mated to six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Kia does not expect large volume sales for the new Optima D-segment car – certainly not to Ford Mondeo or Vauxhall Insignia levels. “New Optima is a model that will showcase what Kia can do and I believe it will sell quite well,” commented Michael Cole.
In autmun this year, Kia also plans to put on sale a refreshed Soul crossover vehicle. The 2012 Model Year Kia Soul has been unveiled at the New York Auto Show in April and brings a number of styling updates and technical enhancements to the Soul lineup. Kia will release more technical details about its updated Soul towards the end of the year.
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May 19th, 2011 at 12:14 am
Hey Kia Motors America: bring the Picanto over here! The Rio is too big to compete with the smart, Fiat 500, and even the MINI Cooper. A small, fuel efficient vehicle would sell, and with fuel prices of gasoline over 4$ in many places, small and fuel efficient is what people will be looking for.
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Until then I guess I will have to visit our friends “across the Pond” to check this (and all the Euro vehicles with diesel engines). Good luck Kia UK!
May 19th, 2011 at 4:46 am
I wonder how many available colors the Rio will have. I also wonder if there is a need for the Venga when the Rio hatch debuts in UK. I can’t see a reason for it small mpv.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
All well and good saying that we want to increase sales to 70k but first you need to be able to supply cars. Currently I have customers who have been waiting six months for Sportages. Can’t see a Picanto or Rio customer waiting that long!
May 19th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Supply seems to be a huge problem worldwide. If HKAG had the production capacity, they could probably be worldwide best seller.
May 19th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Hurry and bring on the new Picanto to North America, NOW! With Kia`s superior Fit & Finish, better Warrantee, and reliability, it would have a huge advantage over the new Fiat 500, Mini-Cooper, etc. All those upscale options (Power Moonroof, etc) and safety components PLUS over 50 mpg spells……Winner!
May 19th, 2011 at 10:00 pm
The Picanto in the states wouldn’t be a bad idea if they can meet demand (they suck at it with the Sportage). Just give it two years Kia could sell between 5000 to 10,000 Picantos a month in the states.
May 19th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Yeah…they aren’t going to bring the Picanto over here. They do have a serious problem meeting demand, though.
May 20th, 2011 at 4:45 am
I don’t want to sound like a broken record but what’s the deal with the Cadenza? Is it arriving or what?
May 20th, 2011 at 5:27 am
Who knows anymore. It was supposed to be out this fall, now it’s supposed to be out next February. I don’t even care anymore. Maybe we should ignore it…..after all, a watch-pot never boils.
May 20th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
For now on let’s call the Cadenza the Kia Cruise.
May 21st, 2011 at 9:17 am
Not the Kia Cruze. I mean Snuze.
May 21st, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Lets just get the new 2012 Kia Rio5 to the Dealerships as quickly as possible and the Cadenza will show up when it does.
May 21st, 2011 at 4:52 pm
The Kia Snuze should have arrived when the LaCross and Taurus arrived in 2010. Plus it would have given the Kia Snuze at least a year to go on sell before the K9. It would seem it would be easier on dealerships to give the Snuze a little more than a year to sale. And to give Kia excutives an idea of how the K9 would do too. But nope. The only chance they have with the Snuze is to totally redesign the face to make it seem like a new car and not a 2 year old design (3 years if you count the KND-4 CONCEPT). You know the Cadenza would have been a really great luxury car in the states especially back in 2010 when gas was well under $3.00 a gallon. And Kia would have a chance to sell it well over a year before the Azera causing less conflict between the two. If it does arrive the Azera will easily cancel the Cadenza out. The timing would have been great rivaling agasint the LaCross and Taurus.
May 22nd, 2011 at 3:16 am
Don’t even THINK about seeing a 2012 Rio5 on dealer lots until October, maybe even November. And you won’t see 2012 Rios on their website until March. Not to get you down, but this is Kia’s track record.
May 22nd, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Any info about the Kia Tam we saw on spy shots 2 months ago? Two thoughts came to mind over the Tam. My first thought was maybe it was that small electric crossover I read about that was supposed to debut. But after looking at the Kia Naimo I easily axed it out. So that leaves to one more conclusion. What if the Tam is going to tackle the Nissan Cube while Kia is making the Soul go upscale to tackle the 4WD Nissan Juke. After all, I read Kia already decided the next generation Soul will have 4WD. Kia wants some small 4WD crossover smaller than the Sportage and they think the Soul would be that crossover. With the Soul, Tam and Namio crossovers along with the Sportage and Sorento Kia is up to something, something big, something scary, something grounbreaking, something fast, something chellenging, something I don’t even know what it is yet…….. but I”m going to find out or my name ain’t jtz. Oh yeah and I expect whatever RWD car Kia is going to show at Frankfurt to be scary, mean, fast, groundbreaking, something not even that Toyoburu coupes expects. So come on Toyota, Subaru and Scion bring it on!!!! Kia’s coupe will be ready to takle down Scion’s grounbreaking design.
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Why do you act like Nissan is Kia’s biggest competitor? Kia needs to “take down” Ford more than anything. Nissan is easy, Kia wouldn’t develop a vehicle specifically to compete with a Nissan. Once Kia can kill Ford, it will be a triumphant day. HKAG as a whole can beat Ford, but not alone. So screw Nissan, they obviously aren’t trying to compete anymore, anyway.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Greg……easy. Ford will be impossible to takedown period. It will likely be the only standing American Car manufacturer left in a decade or so. Fiat will eventually dump their investment with Chrysler and write it off. GM will linger a bit longer with foreign sales and (never) completely pay off the Federal loans that kept them alive. Give credit where credit is do, Alan Mullally as CEO and Bill Ford Jr.have done a great job leading Ford to becoming America`s premium car manufacturer. There is plenty of room for both Kia, Hyundai and Ford to compete in the World Marketplace.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Ford is very strong and difficult to take down. However, when it comes to luxury, Hyundai can take out Lincoln easily. Ford alone may be weaker than you think, they had to get rid of Volvoo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Mercury in order to keep Ford strong. Pretty much Ford can’t really focus on multiple brands why else is it that Lincoln ain’t the ideal luxury car compared to Audi, BMW, Caddilac, Lexus, Mercedes, or Acura? Notice when Ford had all these brands, Ford sucekd now that they got rid of them, Ford is better after that. Hyundai got strong and had Kia for over a decade and still strong. And the Rio will be ready for that Fiesta.
May 23rd, 2011 at 9:09 am
jtz-I think what you’re forgeting is a lot of American people are still hung up on nationalism. They still think that by buying an American rig they’re helping America out as a nation. We gearheads know that it’s a world economy and the parts and assemblies are made and shipped and shopped around so much that it’s hard to call an American car an American car any more. Just not true. Partly true, but they make them in foreign countries and such, ya know? Kia will have a very hard time bringing down Ford. That is, because of what I mentioned, and the fact that so may Americans are so hung up on buying pick-em-up trucks so badly, and Ford does pickup trucks so well, Ford will never be brought down by Kia. I’m not saying I like that, it’s just true, that just as true as Barbara Waa-Waa will grace our TV screens with stupid shows like The View till the cows come home, Ford will be your American carmaker for your every purpose until the end of time. Being a bit sarcastic here.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:33 pm
True Kia will never surpass Ford overall sales because of the F-Series, but in every other class, I think outselling them is an attainable goal. Just look at the Fusion…….need I say more?
May 23rd, 2011 at 5:18 pm
I don’t know Greg. Even if Kia had plans to turn the Borrego crossover, I don’t think it would outsell the Explorer (the face of that Ford copied the Suzuki XL-7′s or Kia Mesa) and be in the top ten best selling CUVs list. That would be pretty tough. But maybe it would have a chance after all it only took the Sorento 2 generations to be in that top 10 best selling CUV list and outselling the Edge mojority of the times. Howver the Borrego didn’t have enough years behind to do what the Sorento did. But I do think Kia should try a very stylish large crossover. It couldn’t hurt. Besides it could free up some demand for the Sorento and Sportage. HKAG are strong in small to midsize cars and cuvs and getting stronger in selling large cars and cuvs like the Genesis and Equus. But it’s getting better for HKAG the Sonata and Sorento are the best selling car and CUV from S. Korea and the Optima is seeing sells it never seen before getting closer to the 10,000 unit mark. It’s really good that Kia’s best seller in the states (the Spectra) was replaced by a bigger and tougher segment (Sorento). That’s a good sign with the Forte outselling the Spectra.
May 23rd, 2011 at 7:40 pm
The Sonata outsells the Fusion, so the Optima potentially could someday. The Elantra also outsells the Focus, and I have no doubt the new Accent will outsell the Fiesta. Hyundai is closer to outselling Ford than Kia, but like I said, Kia could get there…with the exception of the F-series.
May 23rd, 2011 at 11:27 pm
I`m sure the new 2012 Hyundai Accent will out sell the Fiesta, right! At $17,500 with no available Leather option or Power Moonroof, I doubt it. Maybe the elcheapo $12.500 GLS with no A/C, no radio, Standard transmission, with those “cute” black painted exterior mirrors and door handles as well as those darling 14“ steel wheels/tires with covers…Maybe for the RentalCar Fleets. The Kia Rio and Rio5 will out sell the Accent (IF) the availability is there. The old Rio5 never sold mostly due to the fact that Kia dealers were not able to get any inventory.
May 24th, 2011 at 12:46 am
I’ve always been a Ford guy, but Hyundai & Kia inparticular are making real strides in the automotive world for sure. If I had to chose a replacement for my current vehicle, an 06 Mazda3s, I would take a good hard look at the upcoming Kia Rio5 for sure, it looks awesome, I love the 6 speed & GDI 1.6 offering in this! I saw a prototype with a little camo & I was very impressed by what I saw!
May 24th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I bought a 2011 Ford Fiesta SE hatchback last July and love it. Was considering the new 2012 Ford Focus too, but don`t want two similar looking vehicles parked next to each other in my driveway even in different colors. I`m waiting on the new 2012 Kia Rio5 Hatchback with LED Drl`s, Tail Lights, Projector Headlights, Power Moonroof, bring it on! Look at the Kia Web Site for upcoming vehicles and drool.
May 25th, 2011 at 6:17 am
john and Philip-agreed. I am a Mitsubishi man 1st off but I’m here because I’ve owned 2 new Kia’s before and have tasted their excellence first-hand. I hate that Kia can’t make a pickup like the Mojave they were bantering around the net several years ago. So many Americans, like I said, are so hung up on historical Fo-Mo-Co and nationalism and giving “jobs and sales away” to companies like Hyundai and Kia that they cut off their noses to spite their face and go with a new Ford. But OTOH, Philip, I was basically almost drooling over the new ’11 Ford Fiesta myself. I would go there in Elko, NV, every night late, Gallagher Ford, and stare at the first sedan they got in with a manual tranny. It was blue, the lowest end Fiesta sedan with a 5-speed stick, and they only wanted $14,750 or something like that fot it. But then again, back in 2006 before Mitsu came out with the Lancer and Lancer GTS and Lancer X, I was staring at a 2007 Toyota Yaris 4-dr. sedan with a 5-speed. Before that I was all hung up on a polar white 2006 Scion xA with a 5-speed stick for only $14,195!!! See what I mean! I’ll stray to another maker but I don’t have Jay Leno’s cash and only run 1 rig at a time. I’m set with my Lancer GTS 2008 for several more years and I’m happy with it. The 2012 Ford Focus and the 2012 Kia Rio5 have my eye but I’m stayin’ with what I have. Heck, I even freaked over a 2010 Suzuki Kizashi, bright red with a 6-speed stick for only $22,395. I test drove and automatic CVT ’10 Kizashi and loved it! It was down in Henderson, NV, 8 miles from the Strip in Vegas, in April 2010. I went in to negotiations for the red 6-speed Kizashi and they went all hardball on me and the deal fell through or I’d be driving a 2010 Suzuki Kizashi, red in color with all available options and the 6-speed manual transmission right now! I am all about the car I fall for and will stray from Mitsubishi and Kia if just the right rig comes my way. Car nutty would be one way ta put it, gentlemen. Open to new ideas and change, I’m sayin’ it.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
The only knock I have against (both) Mitsubishi products and Suzuki vehicles are both sub-par residual trade in values and horrible fuel economy. Every year when I attend the Miami International Auto Show in the Fall, I notice the EPA Fuel Economy Ratings of the Mitsubishi and Suzuki line and they are never comparable to other manufacturers FE numbers. And talk about trade in residual values, although Hyundai and Kia still have a way to go, compared with both the Mits and Suzu, they are much better and continue to improve every year with more public acceptance of their improved quality. As one who trades in vehicles every 4 or 5 years, residual value is a major factor for me. If you drive a vehicle until you sell it by the pound for scrap, not so much.
May 26th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
I hate beating a dead horse, but do we have any idea when the forums will be back up? They have been down for well over a year now and I miss them
May 27th, 2011 at 4:57 am
I miss them too. I miss the old kia-world when new Kia info came daily too. KIA WORLD had teasers and spy shots no one else had and youtube videos. Kia world even had us vote which Kia would you buy or what is your favorite concept. Remember when this blog had people sending photo shops like the 3 door soul? Remember when kia-world had info before leftlane and edmunds? REMEMBER K-sport and spectra man? Remember HIMI would get on us and erase anything that had nothing to do with the topic of the forum lol. I remember on the Borrego forum we talked about vacations, family and pets. It took Himi a week to erase everything that had nothing to do with the Borrego. I remember a swear word would cause us to be threaten to be banned. Remember when the more we used the forum the higher our rating? This blog was the best source of Kia info ever. Remember when Greg brought pics to the forum everytime he went to the auto shows? Those were the good old days. Now it’s a bore. There were so many kia spy shots.
May 27th, 2011 at 5:12 am
I still have all kinds of auto show pics from over a year ago…but nowhere to put them. The last autoshow I posted on the forums was Chicago 2010.
May 27th, 2011 at 6:56 am
I agree with both of you old-timers on here, Greg and jtz, because I’m one of them. I remember the old times on here. Photos to post on not just Kia’s but off-topic space was used to the hilt on here and it was ever-so-cool to utilize that. I miss the forums big-time on here. I can learn about the new Kia’s better when there are visuals as aids. Imagine a class at school where the teacher can’t use film, videos or even a white board or…the net! Philip-wrong on my ’08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS ghastly mileage, man. I’m getting around 21 city and 31 highway consistently. Pretty good mileage. Also, last time I checked on KBB my Lancer’s trade-in to dealer value exceeded what I owe-I’m paying by a long-term note (I always do with our rigs) but I owe less than what KBB says our Lancer GTS is worth. Mitsubishi and Suzuki make some decent cars…the Lancer and EVO X and Outlander especially from Mitsubishi. And I don’t know if you dislike the Suzuki Kizashi, but it is a great value in a smaller midsize sedan and I believe it is very well made with a great Warranty and priced very competitively, too.
May 27th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
All the Kias in my family have equity. Mostly because we paid so much less than sticker for them. Especially the 2009 Amanti…sticker was $32,990, dealer dumped it as a demo (after sitting on the lot for 2 years, 5100 miles) for a mere $23,595 out the door. I tell ya, the Amanti is the car biz’ best kept secret. Driving that thing is such a pleasure. With the sparkly chrome wheels in platinum gray..it is actually a sharp, sharp car. monoblack leather interior with leather EVERYWHERE…fabric on the pillars, too. That car hauls @$$ when you put your foot in it. 3.8L is a big engine for that car.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Not bashing either Mitsubishi or Suzuki products at all. Just saying…… comparing their entire fleet of vehicles with the EPA Fuel Economy figures they post on their MSRP stickers, they do (not) compete well with a lot of other manufacturers. Resale values in real time like Auto Auctions also show they return horrible residual values. That said, the quality, fit, finish is not a problem and both those car makers make very good vehicles. Its just that they are not competitive in Fuel Economy or Residual Trade In Value. If your keeping a car for 10 years, it won`t make any difference whatsoever except for the extra fuel that was consumed. With Gasoline at $4.00 @ gallon, I don`t consider 21 mpg city or 31 mpg highway acceptable numbers. My 2011 Ford Fiesta SE hatchback (smaller vehicle) gets 34 mpg city and 41 mpg highway with automatic transmission and A/C on constantly. Hope that the new 2012 Kia Rio5 will even improve on that.
May 28th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Philip-all I care about is my car. And my car, a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, returns great ghastly mileage. And the ’08 Lancer GTS is worth more than I owe. Period. That’s all I’m sayin’. Snap.
May 29th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Bryan, I`m happy for both You and (your) cars! Chill out and don`t be so defensive. Even though you ended your post with “Snap” whatever thats supposed to mean, I will just finally say, Your certainly entitled to your own opinions, like everyone else included myself, but your (not) entitled to your own Facts! You define “ghastly” great fuel economy is 21 mpg city and 31 mpg highway? Snap. Thats all I`m sayin`.
May 30th, 2011 at 3:44 am
Snap just means to me that that’s all I have ta say. I’m not arguing with you about Mitsu products. I’m just sayin’ that they’re very good cars for the money, they get good ghastly mileage (especially their Lancer’s), they have great Warranty’ like Kia’s do, and they don’t break down often, they’re good and reliable like Kia’s are (start seein’ why I like them, like I dig Kia’s too?) and they just hook, lined and sinkered me with the “jet-fighter inspired” front end. I love it! That’s all. Oh, man, my son and I went ta Hasting’s Book Store today in Coeur d’ Alene. On the way back to the Lancer GTS I saw a new Kia Forte Koup in a stone grey color. Sharp as all get out, really nice looking car. No, like I say, the 2012 Kia Rio sedan and HB have my watchful eye but basically I’m gonna hold with what I have. I plan to read reviews on the ’12 Rio sedan/HB’s bought and see how they’re liking them. I’m not defensive I just notice on sites like Edmunds (I’ve seen you on there too Phil, eh?) people wantonly put Mitsubishi product down left and right and I develop a view to share the truth on the matter, that’s all.
May 31st, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Peace Bro. I do on occasionally post a remark on Edmunds but if you ever saw a negative remark by a (Phil) concerning any Mitsu or Suzu products, it wasn`t me. Hope the 2012 Kia Rio5 Hatchback arrives soon, going to put one in my drive, Pronto! Fully loaded with SX Trim, Power Moonroof etc. Don`t want the Navigation though, my $80 Mini Garmin works just fine.
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