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.

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  

Kia Rio three-door

The new Kia Ria and updated Kia Soul have been unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt International Motor show this week. The three-door version of the new Kia Rio should be available in the UK from early 2012 and Kia has high hopes for this new model, expecting sales of around 20-25% across  its total sales.

The Rio three-door has the same dimensions as the five-door and will come with a choice of four three- and four-cylinder engines. The fastest Rio three-door will reach 0-62mph in 11.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 114mph. However fuel consumption for the EcoDynamics model will be as high as 88.2mpg and this car will also offer class-leading CO2 emissions of just 85g/km.

Updated Kia Soul

Kia also unveiled the updated Kia Soul which offers a more refined appearance, new engines, a higher specification and a more premium feel. At the front the Kia Soul is wider and has an extended nose while at the rear the black bumper insert panel is extended, moving the fog lamps outwards. The new Kia Soul also  gets new, powerful, twin-bulb headlamps and running lights, while LED clusters front and rear are standard on higher specification models.

It also gets new 18-inch alloy wheels, redesigned exterior mirrors, while inside the cabin benefits from a revised centre console, circular type heating controls and a wider choice of new interior fabrics. The engine updates include a new 140ps 1.6-litre GDI Gamma petrol engine plus the popular 128ps 1.6-litre U2 CRDI diesel engine is still available. Kia car leasing on all new models will be loaded in due course, once final pricing and specifications are announced.

Kia new four-door sports sedan

Kia is planning to unveil a brand new four-door sports sedan (saloon) concept at the IAA 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, plus the world premiere of the three-door version of the all-new Rio and a facelift version of the Kia Soul.

The new four-door sedan concept has a powerful, dynamic, forward-looking style and this new design clearly signals a new styling direction for the Kia brand. The car has rear-wheel drive and the sleek and muscular proportions of this sports sedan are married to a sophisticated and elegant four-seater cockpit.

Peter Schreyer, Kia Motors Chief Deign Officer, commented,”No matter from which perspective you look at it – this concept car is roaring with energy and ready for take-off. I believe the car is a strong statement from Kia: we are ready to fast forward to an all-new chapter”.  The new concept is certainly eye-catching and Kia continues to excel in attractive, yet affordable quality cars. We have Kia contract hire on the site now on all of their current range, including Picanto, Sportage, Sorento, Carens, C’eed, Rio, Soul and Venga.

Kia KV7

Kia has announced that is set to launch a new concept car at the North American International Auto Show 2011 which is being held in Detroit from the 10th to the 23rd January 2011.

Kia’s most recent concept car was the POP, a compact urban electric vehicle, which was unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, however this new concept debuts a new convention-challenging design that may result in a production model. Kia’s design team has been delivering production vehicles such as the Soul, Sportage and Sorento which did resemble the original concept designs so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

New Kia Sportage

Kia is bringing out their fourth consecutive model to be developed on UK roads, with the new Kia Sportage. Neil Kent, Product Specialist, from Kia Motors (UK) said,” Once we had completed testing for ride quality, steering and dynamics with our European colleagues,vehicles were then brought to the UK for final set-up, benchmarking and evaluation. UK testing is invaluable as it allows us to ensure we have the right levels of comfort and performance for the very specific road conditions we have here”.

Kia Sportage on UK road testing

The new Kia Sportage has a striking design, a great on the road ability and looks likely to continue the success of the outgoing model and will be built at the state-of-the-art Zilina plant in Slovakia. This new model follows on from the other successful launches of the Soul, Venga and Sorento.

Kia Soul

A Kia dealership in Loughborugh recently hosted a visit from a uniquely designed Kia Soul, by Jeff Banks the fashion guru.

The car was remodelled around a Kia Soul Samba in Tornado Red and has red alloy wheel, racing seats, red LED mood lighting and an in-car cinema system as accessories to the vehicle, plus Jeff Banks crest features on the roof of the car and the tailgate.

Kia Soul

The Kia Soul has won a class victory in the under £16,000, 2010 Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards. The entrants are tested at the Millbrook Proving Ground and the evaluations cover hill starts, acceleration, braking capability and towing ability. In addition, a team of caravan specialists then evaluate the cars in some suitability tests, in everday caravanning situations. 

The judges said, “The Kia Soul Shaker gives a spirited performance, has a usable bodyshape and promises low running costs. As a towcar for small caravans or trailer tents, Kia’s hatchback is a worthy winner”.The Kia Soul has a braked and unbraked towing capacities of 1,300 kg and 550 kg respectively, with a ball weight of 52kg.

Kia Soul Burner

Kia has already won an award from the magazine, Fast Car, for Best New Model of 2009. Fast Car is one of the UK tuning and lifestyle magazines that sets the trends for the modified car culture.

The UK model range for the Kia Soul comes in five options. The entry level is the Soul 1, the volume model is the Soul 2 and there are the ”Soul Originals” made up of three characters namely; Samba, Shaker and Burner.

Samba is only available in Tornado Red and features 18 inch five spoke alloy wheels, privacy glass and an eight speaker stereo system.

Shaker comes in a Vanilla Shake paintwork and has a houndstooth interior and clever reversing cameras. For those poeple who really want to stand out from the crowd, the Burner comes in black paintwork, black wheels, bright red front grille and matching red wing mirrors with a dragon emblazoned on the paintwork.

Paul Philpott, Managing Director of Kia Motors UK Ltd, said ” Fast Car knows what it’s readers like and there’s no hiding from their straight talking opinions”.

Steve Chalmers, editor of Fast Car said ” Kia has taken a concept car, kept the best attributes and put it on the road”.