Kia Optima 2018 facelift revealed

The Kia Optima will be updated for 2018, with a new focus on luxury and comfort to separate the mid-size sedan from its sportier Stinger sibling.

The model you see in this images is actually the Korean-market Kia K5, but it is understood that the car you see is what we’ll get in Australia around April 2018.

There are several styling changes to the updated Optima, including new front and rear bumpers, new headlights, tail-lights and LED running lights, a new grille, new alloy wheel options, and plenty of additional technology.

The new high-tech goodies fitted to the Optima include items such as a surround-view camera system (similar to that seen on the updated Sorento), and a system called 'Highway Assist' that uses the adaptive cruise control in conjunction with the lane-keeping assistance system to offer a level of semi-autonomous highway driving.

A new grille is one of the several styling changes to the updated Optima.

It is unclear if that combined semi-autonomous tech set-up will be offered here, but you can rest assured the individual cruise control and lane-keeping systems will be fitted to at least one variant of the Optima line-up.

There are interior revisions including new trim options - it’s unclear whether the luxe quilted leather finish seen here will make its way to Australian cars - but there’s also a new steering wheel, a bigger media screen with the latest smartphone connectivity (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), and interior ambient lighting.

Adding to the luxury focus for the Optima are items such as puddle lights, heated and cooled seats, and a revised instrument cluster with a larger digital screen.

There are interior revisions including new trim options, but it’s unclear whether the luxe quilted leather finish seen here will make its way to Australian cars.

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Adding to the luxury focus for the Optima are items such as heated and cooled seats.

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Amongst the changes are a bigger media screen with the latest smartphone connectivity (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto).

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As for whether the model range will persist with two models - the entry-level Si, at $34,490 plus on-road costs, and the flagship GT, at $44,490 plus on-roads - remains to be seen. 

Kia Australia general manager of media and corporate communications, Kevin Hepworth, advised CarsGuide that at this stage there aren’t any specific details to be released, and that potential customers will need to wait until early in the second quarter of 2018 to see how the updated range stacks up.

But what is clear is that the updated Optima is set to be focused more towards buyers who are after affordable premium motoring, where the sportier side of the Kia brand will be taken care of by the Stinger, which sits just above the Optima, and the next-generation Cerato GT sedan, which will theoretically sit below it in the brand’s model ranks.

'Highway Assist' uses adaptive cruise control with the lane-keeping assistance system to offer a level of semi-autonomous highway driving.

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It is unclear if that the Optima's combined semi-autonomous tech set-up will be offered here.

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Speaking with media at a recent event, Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith said that there is a repositioning strategy in place for the updated Optima, which he at first defended the relevance of given its meagre sales results in the crowded mid-size sedan segment.

“Personally I don’t want to cut it loose, but we’ve got to make sure that it fits in between the new Cerato, which is a bigger car, and - obviously - the Stinger,” said Meredith.

“It’s not as easy as just repricing the car and de-speccing it - we’ve got to be smarter than that. It’s just another challenge. There’s a lot of above-the-line activity we can do - finance offers, etc - that we can do. There’s a whole spectrum of things we can try to make it work,” he said.

Graeme Gambold - the man behind the tuning of the suspension and steering of the cars that Kia sells in Australia - said the company has completed a retune of the suspension to ‘position it a bit differently’, and we assume he was referring to the incoming updated model offering a less sporty, more composed and comfort-focused drive than the current one. 

Stay tuned for the full details of the Kia Optima 2018 update as more news comes to hand.

What do you think of the facelifted Kia Optima? Tell us what you think in the comments below.