With the Chinese market now the leader in terms of car sales, more and more manufacturers are building vehicles to suit this market.
This is the case with the Kia K2 that has been revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show. It is based on the same platform used for the Kia Rio that was recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
This front-wheel driven sedan takes several design cues from the bigger Kia Optima sedan and will enter production at Kia’s Dongfeng Yueda production facility in June, followed by a hatch version in August.
Vice Chairman of Kia Motors, Hyoung-Keun Lee, said the following at Kia’s press conference: “We are confident that this all-new model for China will provide the momentum needed for Kia not only to remain as one of China’s fastest growing automotive brands but also to become a top 10 automaker in the local market in terms of quality and customer satisfaction.”
Kia will be offering both 1,4- and 1,6-litre petrol engines with the option of either a manual or automatic transmission.
Even though it was purposely designed for the Chinese market, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was considered for local release.
