Why, you might wonder, has Kia added a hero car with limited appeal (manual transmission only) to a cluttered, highly competitive compact car market? The answer is: because it could. The model in question is the Picanto micro and the latest addition to the range, the GT. According to Kia More
Kia Grand Carnival first arrived in Australia in January 2006. The ‘Grand’ title is well deserved. It’s not only significantly larger than the older Carnivals (that stayed on sale alongside the Grand for a while), but also more sophisticated internally and in the way it rides and handles. The original More
In days gone by, GT, as in Grand Touring, was generally reserved for aristocratic automobiles, usually from Europe, or American muscle cars. Then hot hatches got in on the act. These days, GT seems to be bandied about, being given to any ‘below stairs’ vehicle showing spirit. Take the new More
With automatic transmissions leading the way in car sales to the detriment of manual gearboxes, the thought of a manual-only option for a hatchback would appear questionable. Not to Kia, whose latest micro-model, the Picanto, has just added a hero GT version to its list. “We were warned that trying More
Kia’s fourth-generation Rio first arrived here in January 2017 and received a major upgrade in November 2018. The subject of this week’s road test is the sporting Rio GT-Line. It sits in an interesting position in that it’s not a hot-hatch but rather provides added driving appeal and a bit More
Kia Rio is a small South Korean car that has improved significantly in the generations being reviewed here. In fact it’s up with the best in its class from the 2011 third-generation car onwards. This is not only due to constantly improving build quality, but also to the fact that More
Kia has introduced a Picanto X-Line Australian Open Special Edition as part of its major commitment to the biggest tennis event in Australia. Picanto X-Line is based on the Picanto GT-Line. It has premium seats with red accents, premium steering wheel and shift knob, alloy pedals, electric-folding door mirrors, LED More
Kia Rio competes in one of the most hard-fought sales segments in Australia so it made sense to give a full-on revamp with major mechanical changes to give it more weapons to fight with. The entry level Rio S is unchanged, with a 1.4-litre petrol engine mated to either a More
Easily Kia’s biggest-seller, the Cerato sits in fourth-place in the ultra-competitive small-medium segment having gradually eroded sales from the perennial big-three of Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Hyundai i30. Kia’s seven-year unlimited distance warranty is proving a masterstroke in that it is attracting new buyers who may have had any lingering More
A fresh face and a new set of ‘shoes’ are Kia’s attempt to keep its Optima mid-size sedan appealing in an ever-changing Australian car market. Pricing has come in for a haircut too. The MY2019 entry-level Si and premium GT pair gain a new grille and front fascia, upper and More
