Category: Kia

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KIA SELTOS SPORT+

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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

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KIA CERATO 2013 – 2021

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  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

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KIA OPTIMA 2011 – 2020

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Kia Optima is a long-time player in Australia having been introduced here in 2001. In this Used Car Checkout review we are looking at the third generation that was launched Downunder in January 2011. Kia Australia had been working on Australian suspension tuning for quite a few years and Optima handle handles pretty well for what it is, a family sedan. Kia’s Optima is a medium-large four-door sedan with room for four adults, usually with little need to compromise on legroom. The fourth generation of November 2015 was larger and… Read more

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KIA EV6 GT AWD DUAL MOTOR

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Kia’s EV6 GT is World Performance Car of the Year, who can argue with that? To be eligible a car must be produced in volumes of at least 1000 units/year, must be overtly performance-focused in overall character and must be “on-sale” in at least two major markets during the qualifying period. And with two electric motors and a seriously impressive 430kW of power and 740Nm of torque, not to mention a 0-100-km/h time of just 3.5 seconds, EV6 GT certainly meets the requirements. STYLING The GT sits 5mm lower, with… Read more

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KIA STONIC IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED

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Based on the same platform as the Rio hatch, Stonic is the smallest of Kia’s SUVs. Designed by the maestro Peter Schreyer, the name is a combination of the words “stylish” and “iconic”. In Australia Stonic is available with 1.4-litre four cylinder or turbocharged 1.0-litre three- cylinder petrol engines, the latter confined to the top of the range GT-Line. Top seller in this section of the market is the Mazda CX-3, followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross, with the Hyundai venue in third place. Nipping at their heels is the… Read more

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KIA SUV HYBRID LEFT HIGH AND DRY

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Long Covid? Try long Kia. The South Korea automobile maker is suffering lingering post-pandemic ‘sickness’ with its Sorento Hybrid SUV being held up by supply issues and the maker offering the vehicle in top-spec GT-Line only. The same goes for the Plug-in Hybrid. The Sorento sports utility vehicle has been a major part of the Kia catalogue for two decades, with the fourth generation seeing the light of day in 2020 in petrol and diesel variants. Now the range is topped off with petrol / electric hybrids boasting room for… Read more

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FIRST PICS OF NEW KIA EV9

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Hot on the heels of our recent preview of Kia’s upcoming new EV9 electric vehicle, the company has released images the seven-seat SUV. Kia says EV9 represents a “pivotal step forward” in the company’s journey towards becoming a sustainable mobility solutions provider. It’s the second EV to come from the South Korean car maker after the EV6. No word on powertrain, battery size or range as yet, but these details will be revealed later this month. Designers have fused sleek, sculptural shapes and assured, assertive geometry to deliver a strikingly… Read more

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KIA EV9 UNVEILED

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Kia’s commitment to electric vehicles is set to continue with the first viewing of its highly anticipated flagship large SUV, the EV9. First shown as a concept at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show it featured three seating rows, a solar panel built into the bonnet, pop-up steering wheel, 27-inch ultra-wide infotainment display and potential driving range of nearly 500 kilometres. It will be fascinating to see how many of these features are transferred into the production model EV9. The reveal takes the form of a teaser video, available to… Read more

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KIA SELTOS SPORT+

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Seltos is the second smallest model in Kia’s SUV range, sitting above the compact Stonic and below the Sportage. It competes against vehicles such as the MG ZS, Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30 and Mitsubishi ASX. Originally launched here in late 2019 Seltos received a major upgrade in November 2022 with exterior and interior changes, safety improvements, new tech features, plus extra power and a new transmission for the top-spec model. The changes do come at a price with increases of at least $2200 across the range, although they can probably… Read more

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SPORTAGE LEADING THE KIA SALES BOOM

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2022 was a bumper year for Kia. With total sales of 78,330 the Korean manufacturer finished third in the overall sales race behind Toyota and Mazda, the company’s first-ever podium finish. Along the way Kia also won family bragging rights by outselling sibling Hyundai for the first time. Star performer for Kia in 2022 was the fifth-generation Sportage which arrived at the start of the year and accounted for almost a quarter of the brand’s total sales. As with the previous model Sportage comes in four variants, S, SX, SX+… Read more