The Kia Rio has only just been launched as a hatch in SA, making its first appearance during November last year. The sedan was launched to international media in Seoul-Korea and will likely make headway onto the local market around late February or March this year.
South Korea is an intriguing place; in 1953 when it gained independence and formed a separate state from its communist brother it was ranked as one of the poorest nation in the world. Since then and in its near 60 years of independent capitalism the nation has thrived, it now features amongst the top 15 economies in the world and boasts the world’s fastest internet line at an average download speed of 17mb/sec. Part of the success has been down to a Korean saying – Ppli ppli (pronounced Pali Pali) this means ‘fast fast’ or ‘hurry’. That they have and in particular vehicle production, they’ve worked harder than anyone to make their products internationally credible.
The new Kia range in particular looks like a fantastic proposition to anyone looking for pure value for money motoring. The transfer of Peter Shreyer from VAG to Kia has had a major influence on the brand’s visual presence, creating striking and smooth looking vehicles. Think of him as the Christiano Ronaldo of car design, any club would pay a fortune to sign him - every car manufacturer must be sneaking in offers to sign Shreyer’s talents with a pencil.
Now, about this sedan - adding a little bit of booty to a nice looking hatch doesn’t always have a great effect on the appearance; think of it as taking J. Lo and then putting a Swiss Ball under her skirt – not prettier. Case in point would be the VW Polo sedan, Ford Fiesta sedan and the Mazda 2 sedan. Anyone who thinks that the sedans are better lookers needs that Swiss Ball forced down their throat and then sent for a treatment of hydro colonic irrigation to boot. The Rio on that note follows the grain but not as far down as the rest, a touch of the soon to be launched in SA Optima and a Ford Focus boot-lip have softened the appearance. It’s not half bad and blows the competition out of the water, especially when viewed from the front. Or side. Make that any angle.
The model line-up stays identical with a petrol 1.2 and 1.4-litre combined with either a 6-speed manual in both or a 6-speed auto specially for the 1.4 if you wish. I can’t say that too much has changed from the hatch in terms of power delivery, handling or ride and that’s to say that they are all acceptable. Suspension setup is comfy, power delivery is good albeit lacking in overtaking oomph and the power steering’s over assisted feel will make for easy parking and u-turning. Kia is often criticised for overly light steering but in a segment where function outweighs sportiness and track performance, it plays to its advantage. You still get the really nice 17-inch wheels which bulk up the wheel arches and the interior is equally as noteworthy as the exterior. If I can lay a fault at the inside it is at the fighter jet inspired centre mounted buttons that control the climate control and air-flow directions. If you’re going to make something jet fighter-esque then make sure it looks the part and evokes the right amount of cool factor, don’t finish it with a black plastic and an orange light from a Pentium 1 PC box. Like I said though, it is minor details we’re talking about.
As I left Korea I wondered if there are any Kia faithful out there in the world, you know, the VAG whores, Tifosi, BMW boys, Mercedes manne or even Ford fanatics? Kia in particular has no aspirant model, the GT concept is likely to make it, but what are its credentials and how do we know they can even do sportscars? They talk about creating brand awareness but maybe they should be thinking brand loyalty and I see only one way that that can happen - Motorsport. Get to it Kia, let’s see a Le Mans racer or a WRC entrant or blow everything on the holy grail that’s F1, do it, just look at what it’s done for the other brands if you aren’t convinced.