Kia is readying its own answer to the Ford EcoSport and Hyundai Venue. Made first for the Indian market, it’ll be making its worldwide debut (albeit in concept form) at the upcoming New Delhi Auto Expo this February.
Not much is known officially yet about Kia’s new cub-compact SUV except that it’s “a testimony of Kia’s focus on consumer-insight driven product innovation and orientation.” That said, it’s said to share its underpinnings with its corporate sibling, the Hyundai Venue.
With India its primary target market, it’ll be a sub-4-meter SUV to meet regulation requirements there. It could easily share the Venue’s engine range too: an 83-horsepower 1.2-liter or a 120-horsepower turbocharged 1.0-liter. As it makes its way out of the Indian subcontinent though, expect it to gain a 121-horsepower 1.6-liter engine as well.
Based on the sketches, this Kia’s not simple a badge job. It’ll gain its own unique exterior featuring the Tiger Nose upfront, black cladding running across the length of the car, a “floating roof” design, and heckblende taillights at the back. It’s also ditching Hyundai’s split headlamp design for a more traditional setup.
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