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.

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.

All-new Kia Rio

Kia is planning to show off its all-new Kia Rio at the forthcoming EcoVelocity Low Carbon Motor Festival which is being held at Battersea Power Station, in London, from the 8th to the 11th September.

The new Kia EcoDynamics models will be available to test drive and the Kia Rio 1.1 CDRi “1″ model offers a remarkable 85g/km of CO2 and 88.3mpg, so if you are looking for a low CO2 and fuel efficient car this is definitely one to consider. It has an extremely efficient three-cylinder diesel engine with longer gearing, a stop-start system, low rolling resistance tyres and various aerodynamic tweaks to reduce drag.

In addition to the all-new Kia Rio, Kia will also have the new Picanto city-car on show plus other low-emission versions of the c’eed family hatchback and the Sportage crossover for test drives as well. The newly launched Picanto is now available in three-door as well as five-door for the first time and with its 1.0-litre engine it emits only 99g/km of CO2. If you opt for the 1.25-litre engine combined with Kia’s “Intelligent Stop and Go” stop-start system the CO2 emissions are 100g/km.

The Kia Sportage crossover low-emission model is the 1.7-litre CRDi EcoDynamics turbodiesel which emits 135g/km of CO2 and the c’eed hatchback is the 1.6-litre CRDi turbodiesel (103g/km of CO2) which is also on display. Kia contract hire is available on the site for current models.

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 receiving its awards

Kia has just been awarded three “green” environmental certificates from TUV Nord granting the all-new Kia Picanto, Rio and Optima with ISO 14040 (LCA) status. This basically means that these Kia cars have been certified for their low environmental impact throughout their lifecycles. The Kia Sportage was awarded the LCA status in 2010.

The LCA inspection examines the environmental impact of the car itself but also looks at the manufacturing process, the choice of materials, engine exhaust emissions and recycling. All three Kia models offer competitive running costs and the Kia Rio B-segment hatchback offers the lowest CO2 output (85g/km) of any internal combustion engine (and hybrids) that is currently on sale in Europe.

The new Kia Picanto went on sale in the UK in June, the new Kia Rio is being launched on the 1st September and the new D-segment Optima saloon will be launched later in the year. Kia contract hire prices are on the site now.

Kia

Kia has been awarded a place on the vehicle purchase framework agreement from Buying Solutions, to offer Kia vehicles to central government and other public sector organisations, such as the NHS Trust and local councils.

The entire range of Kia cars will be made available via Buying Solutions including the Picanto city car, Kia Rio, Kia Sorento 4×4 and Kia Sportage. Most of the Kia car range come with safety features such as ABS with EBD, up to 6 airbags, Electronic Stability Control and most have  full Euro 5 NCAP safety ratings as well.

John Hargreaves, Head of Fleet and Remarketing at Kia Motors, said,”By working closely with Buying Solutions, Kia will reach a wider fleet audience within the public sector, and will be able to offer corporate fleet loans to sector departments”. Kia car leasing is also available off the site now.

Kia's 10 millionth vehicle

Kia Motors Corporation has celebrated a key milestone in reaching its 10 millionth global vehicle for export. The car in question was a Snow White Pearl Optima sedan, which was shipped to the US market, from Pyeongtaek Port, 50 miles southwest of Seoul, in South Korea. The company also celebrated a new output record for production at its plant in Slovakia, with 229,500 cars being produced in 2010.

Benny Oeyen, Vice President Marketing and Product Planning, Kia Motors Europe, said,”In Europe, the introduction of the new Kia Sportage has been a catalyst for our growth, with more consumers than ever considering the Kia brand for the first time. With the launch of the all-new Picanto and Rio models over the coming months, we are confident that we will see increasing numbers of “conquest sales” moving forward”. If you are interested in Kia personal leasing then we have the full range on the site, with full maintenance contracts

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.