New Kia Cerato exposed

First images of Kia’s redesigned Cerato sedan have emerged online a day ahead of their official release and four months before the vital new model’s public unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

The replacement for Kia’s top-selling model in Australia emerges almost entirely faithful to the computer generated images of the all-new small car released a week ago, including its crisp new Schreyer-look front-end and sweeping coupe-like roofline.

No new details have been released at this stage, but Kia has already stated the all-new small sedan will be longer, lower and wider than the model that attracted 445,000 global sales last year, making it Kia’s biggest seller worldwide.

Kia has also confirmed the new Cerato four-door will hit Australian dealerships in the first quarter of next year, before being joined here by similarly larger replacements for the existing Cerato five-door hatchback and two-door Koup by the end of 2013.

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.

“The Cerato is, and will continue to be, a very important model in the Australian line-up,” said Kia Motors Australia Chief Operating Officer, Tony Barlow.

“We are certainly looking forward to the new generation which clearly continues Kia's dramatic styling progression.”

Kia’s more spacious new Cerato – which will adopt the new K3 nameplate in its Korean home market, but will continue to be called Forte in the US and Cerato in Australia – is based on sister brand Hyundai’s recently released new i30 hatchback.

That means the new Cerato is likely to offer the same engine line-up as the new 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 turbodiesel.

The new Cerato's edgy new ‘mini-Optima’ exterior design marks the renewal of one of the oldest models in the Kia line-up.

Kia’s next Australian release will be the heavily upgraded Sorento medium SUV in October, followed by the redesigned Rondo 7 compact people-mover that will debut athe Paris Motor Show in September.

That will leave the large Carnival people-mover as the only Kia not to be redesigned under the guidance of design chief Peter Schreyer.

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