Kia Track'ster concept car

The new Kia Track’ster concept car was created in the California Design Studio and is envisaged with a 250PS Petrol engine. It was launched by Kia at the Chicago auto show and is based on the popular Soul urban crossover. Last year, more than 102,000 Souls were delivered to US customers and Kia sees the US vehicle market as an attractive proposition.

This Kia concept has a powerful, dynamic and aggressive style, yet displays the distinctive design direction that the South Korean manufacturer is taking. The Track’ster is intended to be a sporting representation of Kia’s Soul B- segment SUV, which was originally created in the California Studio.

The California Studio is also the birthplace of the Soul’ster convertible concept that is currently under final assessment for production, however there are no plans for Track’ster to enter production just yet. But this could change if public demand for the concept is strong. If you are also interested in leasing a new Kia Soul we have Kia contract hire on the site now.

One million cars from Kia

The Kia Motors Manufacturing Slovakia has just built its 1,000,000^th car – a white, diesel-engined cee’d SW. The car was handed over to a Slovakian children’s charity, the Red Nose Clowndoctors. The cee’d is also the 600,000th version of the Zilina factory’s first car, plus the factory now produces the Sportage and Venga as well.

“Kia Motors Slovakia has achieved an important milestone in its history with the production of the millionth car. We decided to donate it to an organisation which will bring pleasure to children during their stay in hospitals,” said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.

City Emergency Braking on the up!

The Volkswagen up! is not even on UK roads yet, but it has just been awarded the title of What Car? Car of the Year 2012, as well as Best City Car, at the What Car? Awards.

Volkswagen had a successful night at the motor industry’s annual ‘Oscars’, which was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The Golf was voted the top Small Family Car category for the sixth time overall and fourth consecutive year, and Volkswagen also won the coveted Safety Award.

Commenting on the awards, What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallett said: ‘The Volkswagen up! sets new standards for a car at £10,000.  It’s a city car that can seat four adults, while offering new levels of refinement, quality and maturity at this price; none of its rivals feels quite so grown-up.  Buyers will be looking for even more for their money than ever in 2012, so the up! is a worthy winner of the What Car? Car of the Year.’

Meanwhile the Safety Award was in large part the result of the availability of Volkswagen’s new City Emergency Braking system on the up!.  The What Car? judges were impressed by this particular example of ‘big car’ technology filtering down to a smaller model and the system uses sensors to scan the space ahead. It then applies the brakes automatically if it detects that the car is about to hit an object in front. 

Director of Volkswagen UK, Chris Craft, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted with the awards we have received from What Car? this year.  The magazine continues to be one of the most thorough and important sources of new car buying information for UK customers and winning the overall Car of the Year accolade gives our new city car, the up!, the best introduction to the UK market that we could have hoped for”.

First models should arrive in UK showrooms in March and Volkswagen contract hire on the up! range is on the site now.

The full list of category winners at the What Car? Awards 2012 is below.

New Kia c'eed

The new Kia c’eed is set to be officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012 and in the meantime Kia has just released the first image of the new car.

The styling resembles a sporty coupe and has design features like chrome framed windows and muscular lines on the bonnet. The new Kia c’eed will be available in Europe from the second quarter of 2012 and in the UK by June.

New Kia Optima saloon

The all-new Kia Optima goes on sale on the 1st February as Kia targets the business fleet car market with this new model, with a diesel-only line-up. The car is available in six-speed manual or automatic transmissions with four trim levels available – all with a very high level of standard specification. The new Kia Optima offers class-leading space and CO2 emissions as low as 128g/km of CO2 and a combined mpg of 57.6, so is an ideal shortlist for any company car driver.

The Optima was unveiled at the New York Auto Show and became Korea’s top-selling car within a month of going on sale. To date nearly 300,000 Optimas have been sold worldwide and the car was designed by Kia’s Chief Design Officer (Peter Schreyer) and his team.  

Kia Optima

It now joins the Kia family of Sorento, Soul, Venga, Sportage, c’eed, Picanto, Rio and provides Kia a full range of vehicles to offer across a fleet company car policy.

The UK model line-up and pricing  

Click for the contract hire offer details

There is a two year contract hire deal on the site for personal customers, that looks appealing if you are looking for a brand new SUV. The Kia Sportage 1.6 GDi 1 5-door petrol manual is on the site from £269.19 including VAT on a two year contract hire offer, with full maintenance cover, 10,000 miles per annum, 6 rentals in advance.

The Kia Sportage is a great looking car and this model returns 44.1 combined mpg and emits 149g/km of CO2. Metallic paint colours will be an extra charge and other contract hire terms are available direct from our finance partner, so fill out a Contact Form for more information.

SsangYong range

SsangYong is continuing to build its UK dealer network with the addition of two new dealers, Hares of Rustington and Pat Kirk Ltd in Strabane.  The SsangYong UK model line-up is headed up by the new Korando which was created by Giorgetto Guigiaro of Ital Design, offering the brand a contemporary look for the European market.

The new Korando is powered by a Euro 5 2.0-litre 175PS diesel engine and provides excellent fuel economy and impressive CO2 emissions of 157g/km, making this one of the most powerful in its class. The Korando is being pitched against the Hyundai ix35, Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi Outlander and Nissan Qashqai and offers you five models to choose from. You also get the option of a 6 speed manual, 6 speed automatic and a choice of S, ES and EX trim levels.

Paul Williams, CEO of SsangYong Motor UK, said,”We and our dealers are focused on giving customers great service, so whether buying a new or used SsangYong, choosing accessories or helping to maintain their car in the years ahead, we are confident customers will appreciate the car, their dealer and the brand”. SsangYong contract hire is on the site now for the whole range.

Kia Ray EV

Kia has just launched the Kia Ray EV, which is their first production electric vehicle, offering a range of up to 86 miles on a single charge. The car is being produced exclusively for the Korean market at this stage and is based on the 1.0-litre petrol Ray CUV.

The EV version is quicker than the petrol equivalent, reaching 0-62mph in 15.9 seconds and a top speed of 81mph, with recharging times taking six hours using a 220V household supply, or just 25 minutes in fast-charge mode. The automatic transmission offers two driving modes while in ”D” drive. ”E” mode (eco mode) gives you minimum battery consumption and maximum driving range and “B” (brake) mode can be selected when driving down a steep hill.

Some of the features of the Ray EV include a unique instrument cluster showing electic motor operation, battery status and distance to recharge. You also get the first ever EV-specific equipped navigation system which provides crucial information on the nearest EV charging stations, as there are only 500 slow/fast recharge stations in Korea currently.

The Kia Ray EV also gets a regenerative braking system, VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control), HAC (Hill Assist Control), VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control) plus a VESS (Virtual Engine Sound System), which emits “petrol engine” noises at speeds less than 12mph, to prevent accidents. Kia plans to manufacture around 2,500 Ray EVs which are destined for government departments and public offices.

Kia Sorento

The Kia Sorento has just been voted the Best SUV at the Total 4X4 magazine awards for the second year running, beating off some stiff competition in a highly contested segment.

Editor Alan Kidd, said,”The Sorento was our reigning champion in the full-size SUV class, and it impressed us every bit as much this year as last. It’s style, poise, kit and practicality all score heavily in its favour. Make no mistake, this award wasn’t about just being cheap. The Sorento beat a long list of premium opponents because it’s very good at everything that matters. Its bargain price and unbeatable seven year warranty merely seal the deal”.

The latest version of the Kia 4×4 Sorento was launched in the UK in February 2010 and is available in two and four wheel drive versions, but it is the four-wheel drive that picked up this award. Kia contract hire on the whole range is on the site now if you fancy a 4X4 this winter.

Warranty Direct’s unique reliability index takes into account how often vehicles break down, their average repair cost and time spent in the garage, to calculate the overall reliability of any vehicle. The lower the Reliability Index number, the more reliable and cheaper it will be to repair your car.

If you are thinking of buying or leasing a new 4×4 or SUV, the top-10 models are dominated by Japanese and Korean cars. The Warranty Direct study looked at over 16,000 three-to eight-year old 4x4s and SUVs. It is important to choose the right manufacturer and model as Warranty Direct revealed that this vehicle category is also the most expensive type of vehicle to run.

While some of the models below have been replaced by newer vehicles, it does give you an idea of which manufacturer offers you the best reliability and running costs, especially if you lease and opt for a non-maintained contract. Honda scores particularly well in the study with a Reliability Index score of 6.

Further details of the Reliability Index can be found at www.reliabilityindex.co.uk

Top Ten rated 4×4/SUVs