Kia Optima Hybrid left on the shelf
No plans for RHD-engineered Optima Hybrid but Turbo Optima is a different story, with high performance engine option possible this yearGeneva International Motor Show
The Kia Optima Hybrid is a long way off reaching Australia, if it ever does. It's not manufactured in right-hand drive, so there are technical and logistical problems standing in the way of the car being imported here.
"It's a car we have said we would be interested in having, but it's out of our hands," said Kia's National Public Relations Manager Kevin Hepworth in discussion with the Carsales Network just prior to the Geneva motor show.
Fuel consumption is reduced by 10 per cent in the Hybrid Optima, which retains the 2.4-litre GDI engine of the standard car, but coupled to a 30kW electric motor and clutch in lieu of the torque converter for the six-speed automatic transmission. Without the Toyota Camry Hybrid's CVT setup, the Kia system is simpler, but still offers an EV-only running mode, until the point where the petrol engine steps in to provide the motive power and the electric motor reverts to supplementing the torque available or recharging the car's lithium-ion batteries.
Unlike the Hybrid, the Optima Turbo is "on the horizon," according to Hepworth. "Discussions are going on at this stage."
Again, unlike the Hybrid model, the Optima powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder is built in both right- and left-hand drive configurations. It's "just a marketing decision" to bring it to Australia, says Hepworth.
Once the die is cast, the scheduled launch date for the Optima Turbo would be "very late this year or early next year."
New variants of the Optima -- and new shipments -- can't come fast enough for Hepworth. Kia's 120 or so local dealers are lucky to receive one new Optima out of each shipment of approximately 100 cars.
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