2024 Kia Cerato stock is about to run out but can the new 2025 Kia K4 deliver the same sales punch as the outgoing Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3 rival?

If you are keen on buying a Kia Cerato, you’d better get your skates on because the ageing small hatch and sedan range is just weeks from selling out.

Kia has just replaced the long-running Cerato with the new K4, adopting a new global nameplate for its small passenger car range.

That model is rolling into dealerships right now and instead of being produced in Korea like the Cerarto, and most of Kia’s other models, the K4 hails from the carmaker’s Mexican facility.

Kia Australia said K4s are being shipped from Mexico to South Korea then onto Australia. That trip takes approximately a month.

The K4 ushers in a new design inside and out, an updated platform, tweaked ride and handling, fresh multimedia and safety tech and an uptick in standard gear over the Cerato. But it also comes with a price increase of between $3530 and $6130 compared with equivalent Cerato grades.

As the K4 starts to enter showrooms, Kia Australia Chief Operating Officer Dennis Piccoli said the Korean carmaker has “about six weeks worth” of Cerato stock remaining in Australia.

“We expect to have a full suite of cars in market by February 1, across the country, not withstanding the issues that have occurred with logistics across the eastern seaboard, particularly Brisbane and Sydney.”

He’s referring to strikes at the docks that have impacted deliveries of vehicles from multiple brands.

The Kia website is showing drive-away deals on the outgoing Cerato S of $28,790, or the GT from $39,290.

Piccoli says the new K4 small car probably won’t reach the sales highs of its Cerato predecessor, at least for this year.

The ageing Cerato clocked up an impressive 15,502 sales in 2024, its final full year of sales. Piccoli said, given only the K4 sedan is on sale now with the hatch arriving later in 2025, the new model will have a “slower start”.

“But then when we come through with the hatch in quarter four, we think that we will probably round out around 9000 cars - eight to 9000 cars.”

As well as the hatch, expect a hybrid version to land soon — although Kia Australia refused to confirm it just yet — as the brand grapples with the NVES (New Vehicle Efficiency Standards) legislation.

The K4 is yet to be tested by ANCAP for crash safety, but Kia Australia’s General Manager of Product Planning Roland Rivero said he is hopeful of a maximum five-star rating, “but the goal, or the target, is four/five.”

That rating should be revealed in the next two months. There is some concern, however, given the K4’s mechanical cousin — the Hyundai i30 Sedan — only achieved a three-star rating late last year. It lost marks in the assessment areas of Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist assessment areas.

With the new K4, the GT-Line replaces the Cerato GT hot hatch and sedan as the range flagship, but the GT-Line lacks the performance bite of the GT.

“The GT versus GT-Line is really a global branding position, and in effect, with the likes of EV6 GT and even Stinger GT, before, to earn the GT badge required some serious performance,” explained Rivero.

He said the GT-Line, however, was benchmarked for ride and handling against impressive rivals including the Honda Civic hybrid and the Volkswagen Golf R-Line.

And if you are hanging out for a K4 performance grade, don’t hold your breath.

“There's no plans for a GT at this stage,” Rivero confirmed.