Kia Rio 2012 News

We’ve asked some dealers which are the best deals they have going – and why. It may be an extra equipment pack, it may be a great price, or it may be a fantastic finance deal. See the latest dealsTim Kennett at Belcar says their best deal is a Mercedes-Benz CLA 200. “Priced from $49,900 this highly sought-after immaculate update model has it all. Seat memory, sunroof, multi-spoke alloy wheels and suave black leather interior just to name a few features.” See the latest dealsChris Myers of Chris Myers Car Sales in Magill says his best deal is a Mazda 6 diesel wagon priced from $41,650. See the latest dealsScott Parker of Jim Best Ford in Clare says his best deal is a Ford Ranger XLT dual cab turbodiesel for $60,244. “This Ranger has had one owner, low kilometers and is immaculate,” he says. See the latest dealsSteve Vo at Peter Warren Toyota in Liverpool says the best deal he has this week is a Toyota Landcruiser GXL Turbo Diesel Auto for $83,990 driveaway. “Average wait time is 3-4 months to build, RRP is $94,414. Unbelievable clearance with drive away no more to pay price,” Steve says.See the latest dealsMark Courtney at Macarthur Kia in Narellan says the best deal he has this week is a Kia Rio S priced from only $15,290. “Featured packed, funky and cool, this the Reborn Kia Rio. This stylish little package has all the goods without breaking the bank,” Mark says.  See the latest dealsJon Clark-Monks for The Highway Autogroup has a wonderful Mercedes B180 CDI in Blue with full black leather interior. See the latest dealsStewart Rhodes of John Hughes Prestige in Victoria Park says the best deal he has right now is a Volkswagen Touareg priced from $62,990. See the latest dealsPeter Castieau of Warehouse Autos in Balcatta says his best deal is a Toyota FJ Cruiser for $52,476.85 drive away. “Impossible to find this good at this price. Travel around Australia tomorrow,“ he says.  

As the eldest in our family, I was a bit like Hyundai. I had some good ideas, and I got there first, but Keith always managed to take what I'd begun and improve things.When I started as a paperboy I was happy to clear around $20 a week, but he lifted that to more than $40 on the same route and put it all in the bank. No frippery or splashing on motor magazines, that's for sure. He was also way better at anything practical, tougher on a football field, and first to head out from home.Just last week I was driving the new Hyundai Sante Fe and was impressed by the design, space, quality and seven-seater practicality. The steering felt wonky and the ride was floppy, but all-in-all it was a very impressive thing. This week I'm in the latest Kia Sorento and almost the same as the Sante Fe - no surprise there, since they're among the Hyundai-Kia clone cars - but a bit better.I think the driver's seat sits way too high for comfort and control, but the Sorento's suspension is massively better and the steering is good. It also feels more 'together' and a little quieter, and the extra refinement in the Sorento means I will always recommend it ahead of the Santa Fe.It's much the same as the Kia Sportage, which I prefer over the Hyundai ix35, the Kia Rio that trumps the Hyundai i20 - and currently holds the Carsguide Car of the Year crown - and the mid-sized Optima which is way better than either the i40 or i45 from Hyundai.Look at the sales figures this year and Hyundai is up by 4.9 per cent over 2011, holding fourth in the charts. Kia is only 11th, but its numbers are up by 26.9 per cent. Kia has the obvious advantage of building up from the basics set by Hyundai in everything from cabin size to engines, but it scores with the styling work by design ace Peter Schreyer and it also has Aussie suspension guru Graeme Gambold on the books.The Schreyer-Gambold double-punch lands every time, which could partly explain a major change at Hyundai that put former Holden marketing boss John Elsworth into the driving seat this week. He's going to lead a more locally-focussed management team tasked to deliver what Australians want in their cars, while holding the prices and value at the level Australians expect from Korean.'He could do a lot worse than to take a look, and a drive, in something with a Keith - sorry, Kia - badge. 

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011. 

Hundreds of new and updated cars arrive in Australia each year but only one is good enough to make the honour role for Carsguide COTY.This time around the prize fight is tougher than ever, with new arrivals for 2011 covering every size and price class, from the ordinary Chery J1 from China to the exotic Ferrari 458 Italia from Italy. Neither of them makes the COTY cut, but that's another story ...The reach for COTY 2011 contenders actually stretches back to the final months of last year, to include a couple of cars that just missed the 2011 cutoff, and this time around the newcomers must have hit showrooms by December 1.So, unfortunately, the all-new Toyota Camry is a non-starter. It's the same for the make-or-break four-cylinder Falcon.But the class of 2011 covers all the bases, from affordable mini cars through family and prestige cars to a hot new coupe. The hopefuls come from Europe, Asia and Japan, as well as right home in Australia.Setting the field for 2011 was not easy, particularly with the outgoing champion - the Volkswagen Polo - still casting a considerable shadow.But each of the COTY judges, who cover the Carsguide contenders and drive them in all conditions from coast to coast, has called up their personal favourites from Alfa Romeo through to Volkswagen to help guide the selection process.Then it is the final cull by the COTY veterans to produce the top 10 for a gruelling two-day shootout to consider everything from design and safety through to value and their driving ability on a wide range of roads from Ford's You Yangs proving ground to freeways, suburban streets and gravel roads on the outskirts of Melbourne.The field is set, the race is about to be run, but we cannot get ahead of ourselves.So here are the 10 COTY contenders ... now it's over to the judges: 

The Kia concept was one of four outrageous models hown at the Las Vegas 2011 SEMA show. The vehicles were conceived and built in-partnership with the popular lifestyle magazine, Antenna. It's outfitted with everything the modern-day surfer needs for a perfect day and night at the beach, including an authentic Grain wood surfboard mounted on the roof. The Rio 5-door has been lowered with a modified suspension for more aggressive handling, and the aggressive exterior design is accentuated by eye-grabbing 17-inch three-piece gold wheels, a stunning sunset-metallic golden-brown paint scheme, a custom body kit with a front splitter made of wood to match the surfboard on the roof and a redesigned rear fascia with center-mount dual exhaust.

Big-engined family cars are marking time as carmakers find new ways to make tiny engines do the same work. Even engineers say the change over the past 10 years has caught them out. Few would have bet on a 2-litre, four-cylinder Falcon. Kia’s powertrain manager in Europe, Dr Joachim Hahn, says the move to downsize engines wasn’t predicted a decade ago but clearly makes sense. He is planning a 1.1-litre diesel engine for the Rio small car that will achieve a fuel economy of about 3.5 litres/100km - about half the current average for the small car class. “Downsizing is a strategy we see as being the future,’‘ he says. Even the GT (Kia’s new large-car concept) will work well and lose little of its sporty nature when fitted with a 2-litre, four-cylinder engine.’’ The 1.1-litre three-cylinder diesel claims 85 grams/km of CO2 emissions - a figure that Dr Hahn says was “unachievable’’ 10 years ago. “For us in Europe, getting small car emissions down gives us the freedom to make bigger cars - so maybe the GT can have a V8.’’ Kia experimented with its Optima when it entered the US market last year by dropping the V6 engine in its predecessor and offering only four-cylinder engines. “We held our breath,’‘ he says. But no one complained. We replaced the V6 with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and we had better than expected sales and customer feedback.’’ But Dr Hahn cautiond about taking the downsizing to far. “There are many variables,’‘ he says. Some markets expect performance from the car and a small engine will have to work so hard to meet expectations that any fuel economy benefit will be lost. “For example, we could put the 1-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine into the Cerato. But it may not suit al customers in all markets.”

The Rio is the Korean company's price fighter and must do the heavy lifting for the brand as it lifts its lineup and reputation downunder with everything from the upscale Optima to the sellout Sportage diesel. The Rio is previewed as a four-door sedan in the Big Apple, alongside a revamped Soul with Kia's new 'face' on the front and a bigger platform below, following the unveiling of the five-door hatch in Geneva in March. The sedan is more elegant than before and expected to spread the Rio's impact as Kia  Australia looks to lift sales beyond the current level of 650 cars a month. It is already into runout and a major push could easily lift total sales - with three models - towards 1000 a month. "Kia is learning all the time. The new Rio shows that and also reflects the changes in our cars," says Kia Australia spokesman, Kevin Hepworth. The sedan, like the hatch, is based on the mechanical package of the Hyundai i20 but with considerable changes and tweaking for Australia under the control of the company's resident chassis guru, Graeme Gambold. But the bad news is that prices are likely to rise a little, from today's starting sticker at $14,990, despite the strength of the Australian dollar. Kia Australia is planning a staggered rollout of the Rio as supplies become available from Korea. "The five-door hatch will be the first car for us, in August," says Hepworth. "We don't have a definite timing on the four-door sedan, but we're expecting late this year or very early in 2012. The three-door hatch that completes the lineup will be revealed later in the year at a major motor show." Kia is claiming class-leading efficiency for the new Rio, thanks to 1.4 and 1.6-litre engines which start with 102 kiloWatts. "We're still finalising the engines, but we hope to get both," says Hepworth. The Soul is confirmed with a 1.6-litre direct-injection GDI petrol engine and relatively minor body changes to bridge the gap between the current model and an all-new Soul 2012. "The facelifted Soul should be coming to Australia by the end of this year," says Hepworth. "It's an opportunity to put a new engine, the 1.6-litre GDI, in the car, and give it a bit of a tweak to keep it fresh."

China is clearly on top of the car world in 2011.

It's one new development that will be joined by an expanded range of turbo engines as Kia lures an increasingly sophisticated list of buyers. Under development is the three-cylinder turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol engine that Kia's German-based power train manager Joachim Hahn says will soon replace units of 1.6-litre and higher. That indicates there's a new direction for Rio and, for some markets, even the bigger Optima sedan.He clearly lays out a path for Kia that is high on engineering sophistication and with concentration on petrol - rather than diesel - power for the future.  In arriving at the 1.2-litre, Mr Hahn - "it means 'cock','' he says by way of introduction - says Kia also developed a two-cylinder version."But though we could save a bit more fuel, it was noisy and had vibration problems,'' he says.  "To fix the vibration we would have to put in balance shafts and that would increase friction and cost so we would have found more benefits in a three cylinder.''He says Kia has made significant changes in recent years as it developed new engines.  "In the past few years we started quite strongly in diesels,'' he says.  But we found new technology in developments such as the 1-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine for the Picanto (small car) that uses variable valve technology to maximise power and minimise fuel consumption and emissions."Consumers won't accept a lack of power in a small car. They also won't pay extra for new technology because small cars are generally price sensitive. So that rules out turbo-charging for the lower end of the market because it's too expensive."Diesel engines are also too expensive for the Picanto market. It can add about $3000 to the cost and customers won't pay that.  "So, in the case of the Picanto's engine, it is a three cylinder with variable vales and a variable inlet manifold - this is relatively inexpensive technology that won't harm the price of the car.''The carmaker is also introducing bi-fuel - that's LPG and petrol - to its small-car range in some markets because it can slash missions.  A Picanto, for example, with a bi-fuel engine can achieve a very low 90 grams per kilometre of CO2.Kia will add turbo-charging to many of its engines destined for the more expensive end of its market.  "Turbo-charging is clearly on our road map,'' he says."Combined with direct-petrol injection, it is our new future.''  Kia makes a turbo-petrol engine for the Optima for the US market which has 200kW and a flat torque curve.Kia says that model will be considered for Australia but demand in major markets - such as the US - may push out its launch time.  He sees a different type of turbo-charging for diesels and new challenges for petrol-fuelled engines."We are looking at downsizing the capacity of diesel engines,'' he says. "Normally, it is petrol engines that get smaller.  Now we are looking at a smaller capacity diesel with two-stage turbo-charging. It's a high challenge but it s potential to further cut diesel fuel use and emissions.''One of the unexpected problems he sees for the near future is government regulation to reduce the amount of particulates - generally soot from an exhaust in a diesel vehicle - from petrol engines.  "Petrol engines do produce particulates,'' he says."Now we believe that these may be targeted and tat means we have to apply more technology to future petrol engines. Previously this wasn't an issue for us. "It's just another challenge.''

The all-new Rio, with a European design focus, is into final testing in Germany and is already confirmed for Australian sales midway through 2011.  The Rio is caught during testing in Germany where the five-door hatch - one of three models in the UB development program - shows a trendy style with an upmarket drive including alloy wheels. The five-door Rio will be the first car into Australia, with the three-door hatch and four-door sedan to follow later.  "We are expecting an official reveal of the UB early in 2011. We will be launching the car here in the middle of next year," says Kevin Hepworth, spokesman for Kia Australia. He agrees that the apparent growth in the five-door hatch’s length may not all be down to camouflage padding.  “If it has grown, that would open up the sub-compact category as a future possibility for Kia,” Hepworth says. The design chief of the new Rio is Massimo Frascella, formerly at Aston Martin and Ford, who was also responsible for the body of the good looking new Sportage SUV. He works from Kia's design studio in California. The mechanical package of the UB is completely new and Kia stresses it is not shared with anything in the Hyundai family, and definitely not the latest i20 baby car. Frascella talked openly about the UB project during his visit to New Zealand this year for the Australian press preview of the Sportage, and insiders say a clay model of the car has already been previewed in Europe. But Kia Australia has no information yet.  However, it confirms the car will be built in Korea for sales in Australia despite a plan which will see European cars built at one of the brand's European factories. The new Rio is likely to be unveiled in Europe early in the new year, which points to a preview of the five-door hatch at the Geneva Motor Show in March.