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THE luxury car you might own within a decade may be coming from Korea, not Europe. Kia has officially shrugged off its budget-price banner with the GT - a four-door, four seater that it claims follows the prestigious trends of the original autobahn-storming GTs of the 1970s.
But it’s more than a sleek shape.This is the car that Kia intends to become its upmarket saloon that will sit above the existing - and highly popular - Optima and take on Europe’s best.It could be here within two years but because its focus is the US market, may be built at Kia’s Georgia plant that also turns out left-hand drive Optimas.Kia Australia chief operating officer Tony Barlow calls the GT “the next level’’.
“We can sell it,’’ he says at the Frankfurt motor show for the GT’s first public reveal.“Price may be an issue. But we’re looking at the first concept. There will probably be another concept at another show, and then it will head for production. That’s not concrete but it’s the likely path.’’
For now, it has a turbocharged, direct injection 3.3-litre V6 engine generating 291kW and 534Nm. The transmission is an eight-speed automatic with drive to the rear wheels. A V8 is definitely on the cards.
And the best news is that it could be in Australian showrooms as early as 2013.
Kia is being coy about the GT, unveiling it to Carsguide as part of a select group of journalists before the Frankfurt motor show opened its doors.
It has been dramatically styled by Kia’s head designer Peter Schreyer and Kia’s European design chief Gregory Guillaume along Pininfarina lines, echoing a large GT such as Maserati’s Quattroporte.
More than an individual car, Kia Australia’s Tony Barlow says it marks the maturity of Kia and the fact “we don’t want to play in the low end of the market anymore’’.
Though the GT is designed in Europe with the US buyer in mind, it is off significant importance to Australia. Here it will become the company’s flagship and become a vital to elevate all the other Kia products.
“It will make people who buy any Kia to feel proud of the fact that this is a carmaker that can produce some stunning cars,’’ says Barlow.
The GT is the first Kia to have a front engine, rear drive layout. It shares a platform with Hyundai and though just new to public viewing, has been cooking since November 2010.
Schreyer says it shows Kia can move in new directions.
“The classic front-engined, rear-wheel drive layout of a performance saloon has distinct appeal not just for the domestic Korean audience, but also for the Australian, European and American markets,’’ he says.
The GT’s design is similar to the two-door coupe styling of the 2007 Kia Kee concept, also shown at the Frankfurt motor show.
Its front doors and rear-hinged rear doors open outward at a slight upward angle. Though expensive to produce, the absence of a B-pillar is something that Schreyer is keen to retain. He says the GT concept is less about design specifics and more about stance, proportion and balance which will influence Kia’s next project.
“One of the great things about working on this project was that this is a very real car,” says Schreyer. “It felt good to be working on a car that could roll down the road tomorrow. Yes, it would be a dream to put this into production – it has a logical layout, with four seats, and good luggage space, and it’s also engaging and dynamic and makes a strong statement. It’s exactly the kind of car Kia should be making.”
The GT is 4890mm long, 1890mm wide, 1380mm high and sits on a 2860mm wheelbase, 160mm longer than the wheelbase of the current Kia Optima.
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