KIA EV9 GT-LINE AWD

Sounds too good to be true, but it is. EV9 is Kia’s latest and greatest wunderkind, an EV that seats seven and can travel more than 500km on a single charge. In the early days of the modern electric era, it was suggested that families would have two cars: a compact battery-electric vehicle for city use and larger, hybrid SUV for inter-urban travel. A decade later they’ve had a rethink and EVs of different shapes and sizes are becoming an increasingly common sight on our motorways, but we’ve still got… Read more

NEW KIA SORENTO

Kia Australia has announced details of the MY2024 Sorento large SUV with refreshed the exterior and interior design, upgraded comfort and convenience technology, and additional safety features. As before there is a large range of options including petrol and diesel engines, with hybrid, plug-in hybrid, front and all-wheel drive, and four equipment levels. The petrol and diesel variants will be launched later this month in this initial Sorento upgrade release. HEV and PHEV variants will be arriving later in the first half of 2024, with specification details and pricing announced… Read more

NEW KIA PICANTO

Kia has announced details of the latest version of its Picanto city car. Cars of this size have historically been poor sellers in Australia with its sprawling suburbs however increasing environmental awareness did there was a surge in popularity of the segment which saw Kia begin importing the Picanto in 2015. The arrival of compact SUVs has seen the micro segment dwindle to just two cars – Picanto and Fiat 500 with the little Kia outselling the Italian mini by a ratio of 9 to 1. As with the other… Read more

NEW KIA EV9 IS BIG, BOLD AND BATTERY-POWERED

  Kia’s commitment to electric vehicles has taken a major step forward with the arrival of its new fully-electric flagship EV9, a large and luxurious three-row SUV. The biggest and most expensive Kia model to date, the EV9 range will comprise three variants: Air, Earth and GT-Line with the Air and GT-Line on sale now and the Earth trim to follow early in the new year. Will the EV9 cost you the earth? Maybe not, but when it gets here the mid-range Earth will cost you $106,500, sitting between the… Read more

KIA SPORTAGE SX+ 1.6-LITRE TURBO PETROL AWD

Our old friend the Kia Sportage needs little introduction. It’s one of the best-selling SUVs in the country and we’ve owned a couple over the years, including the first one. Now in its fifth generation the current model was released in 2021 and is a much larger vehicle than its predecessors. With seating for five, it’s 17.5cm longer and has an 85mm longer wheelbase than the previous model, and that translates to a more interior space, together with more rear legroom. Long story short, you get more car for your… Read more

PRICE AN ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM KIA

Not before time, it’s a chance to dip a toe into the expanding pool of Kia electric vehicles with a stint in the Niro compact sports utility, albeit the top-of-the-range GT- Line. And there looms the first obstacle: where the EV models open their account at $44,380, plus on-road costs, for the petrol / electric hybrid Niro HEV S, the full electric GT-Line sets back the buyer $72,100. That’s a big pile of dosh to step over. And what do you receive in return? The second-generation Niro has landed with… Read more

KIA SOUL 2009 – 2020

  Two very different buyers are likely to be attracted to the Kia Soul as a used car.    If you’re young and trendy you might like to get one in a bright colour with added  customisation.    If you’re a member of the sex-drugs-and-rock n’ roll generation but now have a ‘7’ in  front of your age you might like to get a Soul in a bright colour with some added  customisation!    Yep! Two different groups both looking for the same thing. Love it!   Kia Soul has… Read more

KIA TO FRESHEN UP ITS CUTE PICANTO HATCH

Kia has provided details of a refreshed version of its Picanto compact hatchback with styling changes, safety improvements and advanced technology. Although Picanto had been on sale overseas since 2003 it took until the release of its third-generation model in 2017 for it to go on sale here. Despite early concerns that it could be too small for Australian buyer preferences it has proved to be a very popular addition to the booming Kia fleet with a clear sales focus on younger drivers. The MY2024 Picanto is a second upgrade… Read more

KIA SELTOS SPORT+

Kia now offers four SUVs of which Seltos (oddly they all start with the letter S) is the second smallest. At one stage we were contemplating the purchase of a Seltos as a replacement for our ageing Sportage which has finally run out of warranty. The big attraction was its size and price because along with its growth in size and prestige, Sportage has piled on the dollars. Though it’s a smaller car, Seltos offers plenty of utility for two people and these days the petrol engine gets better fuel… Read more

KIA CERATO 2013 – 2021

  Kia Cerato is a small-medium South Korean car that’s becoming ever more popular in  Australia.    This has been partly due to the stunningly long seven-year warranty, but the car itself  has been significantly improved since the first models arrived here in 2004.   Kia’s seven-year unlimited distance warranty is proving a masterstroke in that it is  attracting new buyers who may have had any lingering doubts about the quality and  reliability of Korean cars.   Originally, Cerato was rather plain it is shape but the third generation, launched… Read more