The Kia brand has grown to become a serious competitor in the market of mainstream automobiles. From the beginning when this brand was nothing more than the bargain basement where you shopped if your budget was scraping the lower end of the barrel to now with some dynamic and engaging models, Kia has grown and developed into what we want to drive. Over the past week Kia found its way to Paris to give us a look at a new generation of the Kia Rio to show us what this car can become to make it even more desirable.
The Kia Rio has been the best-selling vehicle for Kia for the past several years and now that it’s ready to enter its fourth generation Kia has given it some more features to make it even better. These new additions include advanced safety features, a more mature appearance and a larger overall size than before. This new Rio will offer you the space and items you want in a small car that’s a lot of fun to drive in and around the city or out on the open road. Of course, this car will continue to be an efficient choice for you as well.
Under the hood is a new 1.0-liter three-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces 100 horsepower and 127 lb.-ft. of torque to be easily as efficient as you want while giving you enough power to feel as if this car can be fun to drive. There will be a diesel engine offered for this car, but that engine won’t make its way to the US.
Inside, the larger build shows up in the form of a more generous cargo area to allow you to take a bit more with your or fit that one last bag of groceries in the back. The dashboard and center stack have been redesigned to have the controls and screens leaned toward the driver rather than just toward the center of the vehicle. The infotainment system adds the benefit of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the mix to give you more connectivity with your smartphone to be able to drive with your hands on the wheels while staying connected.
Kia states this is the first car in this class that has automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, which is a huge step forward for the safety of the Rio and those who may be walking in its path. While we don’t have all the details for the Rio that will make its way to North America, it’s expected to go on sale sometime in the early part of 2017. This car may show up later this year at the LA Auto Show where we could see exactly what Kia has in store for us in the US. The Rio is a car that competes in a big way against other small vehicles to give you the drive you want and the build you’ve been looking for in an affordable and efficient model.
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