Kia Rio 2007 News

With the arrival of the Soul, Cerato and Sorento, Kia adopted the new ‘H’ signature grille from chief designer Peter Schreyer. Now it's the Rio's turn. Kia Australia spokesman, Jonathan Fletcher, says the new-look Rio sedan and hatch are perhaps the most important models to get the signature Schreyer treatment. "They are our volume sellers so the family association is very important," he says. This leaves the Rondo and Carnival as the only two remaining local Kias that do not have the new family face. Fletcher says an updated Sportage is expected to get some cosmetic improvements in September but it may not get the new family face as the next-generation off-roader is due next-year. "My guess is that they will hold off the new face for the Sportage until the new model," he says. "The nose design precludes dramatically altering the grille." The new-look Rio is expected to arrive in local showrooms by October at the earliest. Apart from the family grille the Rio gets a revised front bumper with larger air intakes and new foglights. Equipment has been upgraded and the cabin gets higher-quality materials. Inside, there are new instruments, centre console and upgraded CD-stereo system with Bluetooth connectivity. The car's green instrument lighting has been changed to red backlighting. On the outside, some models are tipped to get five-spoke alloys and there are Euro-style indicator lights in the mirrors. Called Kia Pride in South Korea, the current Rio has been on sale here since 2005. Apart from being the brand's local best seller it has also been one of the top-five selling Kia cars globally. Like the Cerato and Soul, the Rio also gets the new three-spoke steering-wheel design. Under the bonnet, the 1.4-litre four cylinder is likely to carry over but buyers will get an updated 1.6-litre petrol engine that has been tweaked for better fuel economy and lower emissions. Prices are expected to remain close to the current car's $14,990 entry point. The 81kW/235Nm 1.5-litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine available in Europe remains unlikely for Australia.

It's not easy being green . . . and affordable. New technology costs a bundle and that cost is passed to customers, but Kia wants to give the world hybrids and fuel-cell cars that don't break the bank.Kia, together with its sister company Hyundai, has developed a petrol-electric hybrid Rio sedan and has also created a fuel-cell version of its Sportage crossover wagon.And these are not just pie-in-the-sky concepts. They are running vehicles and Kia is working hard to bring the technology to showrooms at the right price.Kia admits its fuel cell vehicles are a way off, but petrol-electric hybrids could join the range from 2009, though a 2010 start is more likely.The Rio hybrid might not be for public sale yet, but the South Korean Government is already running 780 of them and will expand the fleet to 3400 over the next two years.At this stage each Rio hybrid costs about $40,000 because the numbers are so small, but its aim is to substantially undercut the Honda Civic hybrid at $32,990 and the Toyota Prius at $37,400.Understandably, it is keeping quiet about exact prices, but Kia is happy to show what it is doing and rolled out a Rio hybrid in Seoul just before it was delivered for government duty.The Rio is not a ground-breaker but does show the company has the expertise to produce a competent hybrid vehicle.It uses a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine linked to a 12kW and 95Nm electric motor located between the engine and the continuously variable automatic gearbox, a similar layout to the Honda IMA hybrid system.A battery pack in the boot is recharged through engine braking.The petrol engine, which has been slightly modified to run in the Rio Hybrid, switches off at idle and fires up when the driver lifts their foot off the brake.The electric motor assists the petrol unit under acceleration, which allows it to use less juice.At this stage, the fuel economy of the Rio Hybrid stands at 5.3 litres/100km, which is pretty good, but greater gains are expected with the next-generation hybrid that Kia and Hyundai are working on.The Kia/Hyundai fuel cell work started in 2000 with technology bought from US-based UTC Power. Since then, it has developed and improved the system.It took the honours at this year's Challenge Bibendum in China, beating fuel cell vehicles from bigger players, including Daimler, GM and Nissan.The Sportage fuel cell is more than a concept, with cars operating in South Korean and US Government test fleets.Kia fuel cell senior research engineer Kim Saehoon said the company is not sure when it will introduce a fuel cell model but is on track for production by 2012.He said hydrogen-powered cars will cost more, but not for long.“It may cost 20 per cent more (than a petrol model), but you will save money because hydrogen will be much cheaper than petrol,” he said.“Our target is that, by 2020 to 2025, a fuel cell vehicle would cost the same as a regular ICE (internal combustion engine) car.” 

With the local car industry now at the halfway point in the 2007 sales race, it is easy to see who's winning and who's losing.Toyota is basking in the glory of not only being No.1, but also cementing its sales lead so convincingly that — barring a catastrophe — it will take out the sales crown this year.The Altona-based Japanese company is 40,404 vehicles clear of its nearest rival, Holden. It is also relishing the positive spin of the Corolla knocking off the Holden Commodore last month.But apart from Toyota, other players are also revelling in the good times.Of the importers, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Peugeot managed strong June sales.Mazda sold 6932 cars, with the Mazda3 being the strongest seller on 3037.The company experienced the biggest market share gain of any importer.Its record half-yearly result is 20.3 per cent up on the same time last year, lifting market share from 6.7 per cent in 2006 to 7.5 per cent, a gain of 0.7 percentage points.Subaru's tally was 4085 for the month, with the Forester, Impreza and Liberty all breaking through 1000 sales.Suzuki, like many importers, was buoyed by keen end-of-financial year deals.It sold 2368 cars for the month, bringing its year-to-date tally to 10,910 vehicles, a 43 per cent lift over last year.Of the French, an ever-expanding Peugeot line-up continues to bolster sales, but Renault flops around due to a lack of new product.Peugeot sold 1016 vehicles last month, bringing its year-to-date run-rate to 4549, a 13 per cent lift over last year. The 307 continues to be Peugeot's best seller.By contrast, Renault has a year-to-date total of 1431 vehicles, 32 cars fewer than last year.Even Saab experienced some solid growth, albeit off a low base, as the 9-3 turbodiesel helped lift the marque's appeal.Saab sold 336 cars last month, its best month for 10 years, taking its year-to-date tally to 1148, a 170 per cent lift over last year.The X-Trail, Tiida and Navara continue to drive Nissan sales. The Japanese importer sold 5845 vehicles last month with 31,176 year-to-date, a 20 per cent lift over last year.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries monthly Vfacts figures show that most of the extra volume last month was generated by the light, small and medium car segments.A breakdown of large car sales shows that Holden sold 5588 Commodores last month, Ford 3206 Falcons, Toyota 2626 Aurions and Mitsubishi just 877 380 V6s.All three were eclipsed by the new four-cylinder Corolla, which secured 5890 sales.But a finer look at the figures shows that much of the Corolla's success was down to fleet purchases and pent-up demand for the new car, which spiked figures.But a sale is a sale. Holden's own figures point out that 29 per cent of VE Commodores are bought by private buyers, as opposed to 18.6 per cent for the VT Commodore.Apart from the Corolla, other small car stars were the Mitsubishi Lancer with 2143 sales, Holden Astra 1763 and Ford Focus 1550.Of the tiddlers, Toyota again ruled last month. The Yaris managed 2926 sales against 2486 for the Hyundai Getz, 1361 for the Kia Rio, 1351 for the Suzuki Swift and 1392 for the Honda Jazz.Despite the dominance of the light, small and medium segments, large cars were up 3.7 per cent in June and, in year-to-date terms, are running 5.1 per cent ahead of last year.However, Ford's overall market share has slipped 2 per cent and Holden's by almost 1 per cent, despite its Korean strategy, which was hoping to deliver an increased share.Mitsubishi is a bit stronger, experiencing a 0.6 per cent overall drop in share and, despite Toyota's increasing sales, its share has increased by only about 0.6 per cent.One of the more interesting results was for the Ford Fairlane.Ford sold 149 Fairlanes, bolstered by the news that the long-wheelbase sedan will be axed at the end of the year.Dealers are also reporting a slight pick-up in interest for the car from fleets.Overall, the year-to-date sales figure of 524,376 means that a record 1 million market is likely by December.   Top 10 makes  1 Toyota 24,5392 Holden 14,2563 Ford 10,3044 Mitsubishi 81945 Mazda 69326 Nissan 58457 Honda 57508 Hyundai 50239 Subaru 408510 Volkswagen 2848 Top 10 models1 Toyota Corolla 58902 Holden Commodore 55883 Toyota HiLux 42494 Ford Falcon 32065 Mazda3 30376 Toyota Yaris 29267 Toyota Camry 26458 Toyota Aurion 26269 Hyundai Getz 248610 Mitsubishi Lancer 2143 

Unleaded petrol costs have risen 5.6 per cent since this time last year, but hidden costs are the main culprits responsible for pumping up motoring budgets, the survey found.The RACV 2007 Vehicle Operating Costs survey said hidden costs such as servicing, insurance and loan interest rates on average rose up to 7 per cent compared to last year's survey.At the same time, depreciation figures show vehicles' value falling faster.After examining the 37 top-selling vehicles across 10 categories, the survey found the cheapest car to own and run was the Hyundai Getz at $116.54 a week.This was $5.34 more than last year's cheapest vehicle, the Kia Rio.The most expensive was still the Toyota Landcruiser GXL turbo-diesel, at $357.51.The Mitsubishi 380 ES was the most affordable family car at $200.44 a week, a weekly increase of $4.46.Meanwhile, lower price and service costs helped Ford Falcon outperform its rival Holden Commodore, costing $229.13 a week compared with $233.40.RACV Chief Engineer of vehicles Michael Case said the Federal Government's $1000 grant to LPG car purchases helped ease the overall running costs of these models.Although eight vehicles across the 10 categories managed to retain last year's rank as cheapest in their class, there were still some significant cost increases.For example, the Kia Carnival rose 14.7 per cent to $216.68, while the Honda CR-V cost $203.86 a week, a 7.4 per cent jump from last year's survey results.Mr Case said the survey showed the cost benefits of diesel and hybrid vehicles, which more motorists were considering investing in as fuel prices continued to skyrocket."A diesel Volkswagen Golf will save you around $2.95 a week - nearly $770 over five years," he said.""That's also a saving of around 11kg of greenhouse gas each week," he said."The Honda Civic hybrid meanwhile, provides a fuel saving of $9.46 a week and can save 17.9kg of greenhouse emissions."The survey data was collected in March and April.RACV calculations are over a five-year ownership period and are based on the average operating conditions for the private motorist, including travel of 15,000 km a year.

Its new baby car, Splash, is aimed straight at Europe and Asia and will also be coming to Australia in a worldwide move which will see production spread through Hungary, Japan and India.The Splash was previewed as a concept car at the Paris motor show last year and follows the successful introduction of the Euro-style Swift and SX-4 wagon.An SX-4 sedan is coming later in the year and Suzuki is also expected to unveil at least two other all-new models before the end of 2007, including the Camry-sized car, which company executives spoke about to CARSguide in Japan last year.“Over the next three years we will have a half-dozen new models in segments where we don't currently participate,” the general manager of Suzuki Australia, Tony Devers, says.“We'll have the mini-car segment with Splash and further down the track we'll have the mid-sized car. And then other products that I don't want to talk about at present.“It's a big push for Suzuki.”The Splash is based on the same mechanical package as the Swift, a former winner of the CARSguide Car of the Year award, but is significantly smaller. It is only 3.7m long but stands 1.6m tall.The safety package includes six airbags and electronic stability control.The Splash will be sold in Europe with both 1.0-litre and 1.3-litre petrol engines, as well as a 1.3-litre diesel — and Suzuki has forecast sales of some 60,000 cars a year from its factory in Hungary.However, sales will not begin until early in 2008 and the final production car will not be unveiled until Germany's Frankfurt motor show in September.Suzuki will not confirm the Splash for Australia, but senior Japanese executives have already said it will be imported.The only likely change is that local deliveries will be of Japanese-made cars, rather than from the new Splash production line being established in India.“We are evaluating it, but we would only get it out of Japan,” Devers says. “It will probably come in around 18 months to two years.”Devers says there is real potential for the Splash, which would be a sub-$15,000 car and smaller than most of the existing cars in the light-car category, such as the Hyundai Getz and Kia Rio.“It's positioned under Swift and that's a segment that's starting to grow,” Devers says.“The cars are quite small but large inside. For Australia, the whole trend in the industry is towards fuel efficiency and smaller cars.“There has been a trend for five to 10 years. If you look at Corolla ... it is not a small car these days. Swift is the size that Corolla and Civic were five years ago, and the Splash will be in the new mini segment. Our consumers are moving towards where Europe has already gone. The light segment is going to boom and this is probably under that.”Devers says the Splash is also a sign of Suzuki's commitment to its globalisation, moving away from the super-small Japanese Kei-class cars it has built for decades.“Suzuki has made a strategic decision,” he says. “It has been the mini-car leader in Japan for 15 years but is now looking to build bigger cars for a global push.“It's a big, big decision. But it's being done so they can tune the production for larger cars and a worldwide push.“Suzuki already sells more cars than Honda, Mazda and Subaru in Europe. It's only Australia and America where it lags.“There is an American focus, but Australia is important too, because we're now a million-vehicle market.”

But the offer does come with conditions: GM Holden spokesman John Lindsay says the money-back guarantee must be taken up within 30 days or when the mileage hits 1500km, whichever comes first.