Kia lobs wedgy new Cerato

Kia has revealed a radical new wedge-shaped Cerato sedan no less than four months ahead of its global debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November.

Not due on sale in Australia until the first quarter of next year, the redesigned Cerato sedan – which will be known as the K3 in its home market of Korea, where production commences in September – will replace Kia Motors Australia’s biggest selling model.

Kia has released no information on the new Cerato, which is expected to be based on the same platform as the new i30 hatchback just released in Australia by sister brand Hyundai, but says it will be longer, lower and wider than before, as well as more spacious inside.

Also known as the Forte in some markets, the new Cerato sedan will spawn replacements for the existing Cerato five-door hatchback and the two-door Cerato Koup.

However, the rapid-fire next-generation Cerato rollout will be much more aggressive than that of the current model family, which arrived Down Under first as a sedan in February 2009, followed by the first Cerato Koup in September 2009 and the first Cerato hatch in November 2010.

This time around, expect the new Cerato hatch and coupe models to appear about 12 months after the sedan, by the end of 2013.

The current Cerato was Kia’s best-selling model globally last year with more than 445,000 examples delivered. Cerato sales are up almost 53 per cent so far this year in Australia, where it has attracted 4150 buyers to narrowly outsell the new Rio light car and attract a 3.4 per cent of the mainstream small car segment.

Its replacement is likely to offer the same engine line-up as the new Hyundai i30, including a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine to replace the existing 2.0-litre petrol four, and a 1.6-litre CRDi turbo-diesel.

Seen here for the first time in computer-generated images, the new Cerato sedan wears a radical new ‘mini-Optima’ exterior design that replaces one of the oldest models in the Kia line-up.

While Kia’s next Australian release will be the heavily upgraded Sorento medium SUV in October, expect a new-generation Rondo7 compact people-mover to emerge at the Paris Motor Show in September, leaving the large Carnival eight-seater as the only Kia not to be thoroughly redesigned under the guidance of design chief Peter Schreyer.

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