SPY PICS: 2025 Kia Cerato replacement hits Sydney streets

A prototype 2025 Kia K4 sedan has been spotted in Macquarie Park in Sydney this week as local dynamic testing gets underway for the next-generation Kia Cerato replacement.

Caught in action on Epping Road in Sydney’s west by eagle-eyed carsales reader David Long, the Kia K4 shown here is one of two engineering development cars that have landed in Australia ahead of the car’s global reveal soon and its local launch due early next year.

As carsales reported in January, the engineering prototypes will be finetuned on Aussie roads by Kia Australia’s product development team and dynamics consultant Graeme Gambold.

This follows a first round of Australia-specific K4 testing and tuning carried out in South Korea last year.

The new K4 will share its underpinnings and powertrains with the current Hyundai i30 sedan, but its Australian chassis tuning will mark an important point of difference.

As the photographs shows, the K4 will also be bigger than the current Cerato small sedan.

The i30 sedan on which it’s based measures 4710mm long – just shy of the Hyundai Santa Fe family SUV – as well as 1825mm wide and 1420mm high, resting on a 2720mm wheelbase.

The current Kia Cerato sedan is 4640mm long, 1800mm wide, 1440mm high and rides on a 2700mm wheelbase.

The new model’s extra length is emphasised by its fastback silhouette – a feature already seen on the i30 four-door – and should also allow Kia to fill some of the void left by the departure of the (albeit sportier and rear-drive) Kia Stinger mid-size sedan, which was axed in 2023.

The headline powertrain options are expected to include a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric hybrid, and a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol in the flagship GT.

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