Frankfurt: Kia Rio 3-door eyes trendy European streets

Frankfurt: Kia Rio 3-door eyes trendy European streets

We’ve previously seen the five-door Kia Rio for the European market, now is the turn of the three-door Rio to have its world debut at Frankfurt. The Rio is a B-segment Kia, which we’ve also seen in sedan form for the US market. China’s notchback has slightly different styling and is called the K2.

Designed primarily for chic Euro streets, the new three-door Rio’s task is to attract first time Kia buyers and to rack up conquest sales. The on-form Korean brand expects 20 to 25% of total Rio sales to be of the 3-door car.

It has the same key dimensions as the 5-door model (length 4,045 mm, width 1,720 mm, height 1,455 mm and wheelbase 2,570 mm) and retains the same roofline that is among the lowest in Kia’s Euro range for some sporty appeal. Up to 10 body colours are offered – White, Black, Silver, Red, Beige, Electronic Blue, Deep Blue, Brown, Graphite and Yellow.

Frankfurt: Kia Rio 3-door eyes trendy European streets

The 3-door will be available with the same range of powertrains, equipment and options as the 5-door. Customers have a choice of four three- and four-cylinder engines – with a 75 to 109 PS power range.

The fastest Rio will accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds on to a top speed of 183 km/h. Fuel consumption will be as low as 3.2 litres per 100 km for the newly-introduced EcoDynamics diesel model, which also delivers a super low CO2 rating of just 85 g/km.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • ko malu saje... on Sep 16, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    That’s the previous gen Seat Leon ass!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ayecaramba! on Sep 16, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    I somehow feel Seat’s presence when I look at its back.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ayecaramba! on Sep 16, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Seat’s butt. :S

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • buskerhatesTnH on Sep 16, 2011 at 5:23 pm

    y dont we have this here?
    picanto is so lame….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • _xXx_ on Sep 16, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    WHY NO LagiBest 1.5L 3-door???

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Masked Ryder on Sep 16, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    After seen so many great design from other mfg, this 3 door Rio look dead boring, even Satria Neo look way better than this.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • sick&tired on Sep 16, 2011 at 8:24 pm

      satria neo better than the new rio?! get your eyes checked. maybe in terms of driving dynamics the satria neo is better, but in terms of looks, the new rio is miles ahead.

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      • Masked Ryder on Sep 16, 2011 at 9:24 pm

        That my opinion, u can have yours but u can’t forced me to accept yours.

        Satria Neo was design solely for 3 door that why the design look 1 piece.
        This boring Rio try to cover 3, 4 & 5 door that why is copy & paste here & there.

        Compare with Polo this is just Lame…. Dead boring..THE END

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Swift Enam Kelajuan on Sep 16, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    this hot hatch not in my list yet…still…not bad..hmm

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Johndeep on Sep 16, 2011 at 7:03 pm

      11.5s 0-100kmh you call it hot hatch? So myv 1.5l sub 10s, should call it super hot hatch!!

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  • Bring in this model quickly Kia Malaysia !!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • “looser will remains looser”
    failed at WRC / IRC…
    not involved at F1…
    not involved at Indy…
    not qualified at WTCC…
    non at LeMans…
    not even at SuperGT…

    what so great about koreans’ automaker?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Masked Ryder on Sep 16, 2011 at 11:50 pm

      1 word “CHEAP”

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • pengu on Sep 17, 2011 at 12:03 am

      sebab tu jgn pandang rendah sama proton maa..satria neo IRC jo!
      pstt2…peter schreyer in da house!!!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • what so great about you?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Phillip zak on Sep 17, 2011 at 7:08 pm

      Make more cars than BMW Mercedes combined….makes more cars than Nissan mitsubishi … Not to mention sells engines to Mitsubishi.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • janet lee on Sep 16, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    more like a mutated SEAT Leon with mediocre power. definitely not an eye candy nor a hot hatch!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • niuhje on Sep 16, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    gotta start saving up!

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  • Zaifman on Sep 16, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    Korean cars were once a laughing stock.

    Now who’s laughing now?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Korean really copycat la.. more than P1 or P2. Korean copy VW now… damn

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • autojohndoe on Sep 17, 2011 at 9:27 am

    while scrolling down… i thought the polo R-line topic was posted twice… because the colour of the car is same…

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  • Honda Power on Sep 17, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    Yeah, Kia is a real copycat. The Rio’s front head lights look like current Honda Jazz head lights. Pity Honda, Kia likes to copy its design. Guess it’s because Honda’s designs are sleek, stylish and sporty.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • wolfsburg on Sep 18, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    With the new model rolling into the Europe market… Hyundai and Kia are going to surpass the Japanese by even greater margin!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • tarmiziali on Sep 18, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    whoa….some people are really hard to pleased. While it is not the last word on beauty, I do feel majority mass will find it aestheticly pleasing. Not everyone buys a car for rempit-ing purposes and manufacturer success in motorsport does not neccessarily translated into making better AFFORDABLE road cars.

    It is not a hot hatch. Although it has a turbocharged variant but we have yet to see KIA bringing their GDI engines to Malaysia. There are some aspect of design that you may not up to your liking but overall I dont think many people will look at it saying that it is an ugly car.

    I predict Naza would bring the UB Kia Rio usually 1 year after its debut. After this year Optima.

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