Kia will launch its first sports car “by the end of the decade”, according to UK boss Paul Philpott.
Details of the new model are limited, although Kia says it will draw from the knowledge it has gained from developing the widely admired GT and Stinger GT4 concepts. The GT is an elegantly aggressive four-door, rear-drive coupé, while the Stinger is a more compact coupé in the mould of the Toyota GT86.
The new car will be a model in its own right rather than being based on another Kia and will be “affordable”, according to Philpott. He added that it will need to be sold worldwide to achieve viable production numbers.
Such a move means the US market will influence its format heavily, although Philpott expects the model to contribute usefully to Kia’s ambition of selling 100,000 cars annually in the UK before the decade is out. This year the company expects to sell slightly more than 80,000 vehicles here.
Philpott also confirmed that a B-segment crossover, designed to compete with Nissan’s Juke, will arrive within two years. Kia previewed a possible crossover with the Provo concept at the 2013 Geneva motor show. “We’ll do it right and be a force to be reckoned with,” said Philpott.
Following a relatively slow period of new model introduction - the latest Sorento is the brand’s only new model in 2015 - there is set to be a spate of new models from Kia as several models approach the end of their six-year life cycles.
Key among these will be the replacement for the best-selling Sportage crossover. It will appear early next year, preceded by the UK launch of the new Optima saloon revealed at the New York motor show in April.
The next Picanto will arrive in 2017, but no date has yet been set for the debut of the new sports car.
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