In December 2012, we told you that the Kia Rio will be launching this month, and Naza Kia Malaysia has now confirmed the date – January 30.
“2012 was a strong year for Kia in Malaysia with sales growing 13% to 12,309 units. For 2013, we expect our sales volume to expand by double digits and the all-new Rio will play an integral part in achieving this target,” said Datuk Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar, COO of Naza Kia.
“The all-new Rio was Kia’s best-selling model outside of Korea in 2012 with 466,826 units sold, and we are confident it will be just as successful in Malaysia,” he added.
Key features of the B-segment Rio include LED daytime running lights, sunroof, LED rear lamps, Arkamys audio system, motor-driven power steering (Hyundai and Kia’s term for EPS), electronic stability control (ESC) and six airbags. Click here to read more about the Rio’s specs from our previous post.
The hatchback is powered by a 1.4 litre MPI Gamma engine. The DOHC with CVVT unit makes 109 PS and 136 Nm of torque. Naza Kia Malaysia is keen to highlight the car’s trendy design – it has won the International Design Excellence Award in the USA and the Product Design Award at the 2012 Red Dot Design Awards in Europe.
Specs and pics can be found in our previous post.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Hmm… nice looking car. pisang panas! pisang panas!
design = ok la
engine = so so
transmission = zaman jepun
reliability = ok la
part/support/warranty = nightmare
resale = no komen….
Resale value ask Sam Loo…LOL
Are you like the more reasonable persona of Sam Loo?
Either way, you are both equally moronic.
Dont mention about resale value for car…if u want high return…pls invest in housing property…car is used to be depreciated
fair comment… not really agree on the zaman jepun transmission though. Lots of cars still using a 4-speeder now includes some sushi premium cars. Nothing against 4-speeder but I think most important is whether the tranny suits the car the best…
This one will tar pau preve turbo anytime
resale yg masalah with Kia/Hyundai ni…
Saya beli Rio previus edition
Stuju design cantik, drive best/power/pick up
Resale confirm takdak. Nak trade in pun susah
OMG….i need the new K3 plssssss…
Nice….
Rather get this over the junk vios.High quality and RV also high.
sam lu..vios???outdated la u…
Please also bring in cheap korean spare parts Naza. Dont only sell the vehicle to people but also provide good after sales service mang.
Don’t expect much about the AP king, their passion is just to songlap Malaysian hard earn money.
If Malaysian want to change government, Naza the AP king will bugkus, The boss Ferrari will be towed.
Yes change the G and a new bigger AP King will appear in no time…
new gov new cronies maaaa..
Betul betul betul
After 8 years change again lo.
Vote for price range 65k – 72k. But 1.4L for that price range seems too much huh? But GE13 is near ma. Customer will definitely take precaution, they will only place order after GE13..peace~
SX is RM 78,888 and LX is 73,888, confirm..
yeah, wait 3 months then only decide.
wait for 1 year and can buy at 50% off
Yes wait until PR win, they will give you free cars..
hahahaha.
Butthurt, already bought new car already is it?
new gov also same story maaa
How you know? We are living in BN world for all this years.
hahaha if u got power u will also tolong ur family 1st to get projet sure one. we are human being. its normal :)
Please dont make it a habit anymore.. lets start change now.. we are professionals and only work with professionals..
Sadly is 1.4L + 4 speed,if 1.6L + 6 speed will more best.
That’s all you care about? 4 speed auto? What about the 6 airbags that will save your life when a crazy driver rams into your family. When that happens, you won’t care about 6 speed or 4 speed. We Malaysians are so obsessed with those options that of course are good but not the most important. 6 airbags, ABS, EDB, BA on all four wheels and a 5-star EURO NCAP is actually excellent for a 1.4L engine. Very rare in Malaysia and this is why I will give this car high esteem. Family and passenger safety first! What’s the point of having CVT-7, LED and all those fancy gadgets when there is no safety? And I’m glad the Rio addresses this issue!
what’s wrong if he is asking for more gear ratios? it’s good to have safety but it is also good to have features.
based on your points, might as well Kia gives, 3 speed auto but comes with all the safety features and a roll-cage!
what’s wrong with appointing KIA is trading those extra 2 ratio with the enhances safety features that mostly important these days.
Actually, I would prefer that.
3 or 4 speed auto for a full complement of safety gear without moving the price up.
I remember how reliable the 3 speed was in the wira.
Rio safety equipment are truly outstanding?but do not forget the weight of the car does not light.
If you think out of the box, a better transmission is also a safety feature. I know this from sitting in a Proton Wira 1.5 Auto aero back, coming out if a junction takes patience, judgement and a whole lot of prayer. A better tranny and engine which this dose not really have, gets you out of harms way faster, changing into the fast lane also easier.
I have’t seen the Rio yet so I do not know weather is it porky or not for that performance feature. but 6 airbags and 5 star NCAP is all good and makes your chances higher during an accident, but isn’t it better to just avoid it all together. Accidents are sometimes avoidable, there’s where safety feature such as airbags and crash tested body comes in. But a good power train, assisted brakes helps you to avoid it better, and in a road-hell country like Malaysia, its important
good power train help avoid accident better ? tell that to your aging mom and dad or granny with degraded reflects or young inexperience driver…in a roal-hell country like Malaysia what KIA offer give them life chance and that is more important.
Sigh…..and this kind of insult I get when I try to express my view. So this is the Malaysia. There is only 2 comments I dislike, One that keeps stealing my identity, and ones that insults different people own non-social affected opinion.
Listen. I may not know much about the car industry like you or the society like you. If you really like your damn under powered car so much with THIRTY Bloody Airbags and Goodness how many stars Euro NCAP can give. Wat is the point with all that safety feature when all you want to do is try your hardest is to jump ahead of the Grim Reaper’s list of next dead man.
And worse of all, don’t give me this sh** about my mom or dad or worse, my granny. NO ONE, not even on this Effing net, or in any free and sane world insults another persons parents or loved one. My granny survive brutality in World War II in China only to be chase down by the communist later with not a penny in her pocket. My other granny has too work penniless after my granpa died. Do you really want to go through this torture. My mom and dad, work so bloody hard with not a cent in their name to go to where we are today so that I can go to college.
Do you know how that feel, probably no. If you DO, don’t come and insult me about parents. Even orphans know the pain of insulting parents and family. As for you, You can skip my advice or comment more sensibly, Don’t one day, whoever you are, coming out of the junction in the middle of the night to a busy Malaysian road and fail to notice the Semi barreling down on you. Than your under-powered car huffs and puffs as you try to move to safety. Only to be smash up it bits. Yes, you survive thanks to the numerous airbags and Euro Stars but your car plunge into the river nearby, and you struggle out of the Airbag-death trap. If you manage to make it out, don’t you think you could have done better if you had a better powered car.
haiyo don’t turn it into emotional discussion ok? stay on to the topic.
yeah maybe you’re right, insults are everywhere. and I got too carried away.
So what should I tell this insultive S.O.B
I second I.ME. I think you bring out a good point to stress the importance for having a responsive gearbox. Just my humble opinion: a 4 speed gearbox could be as responsive as 6, or even better. It all depends on the technology and the gear ratio tuning to match the engine power curve.
If put 30 airbags also no use if the prize tag is cekik darah. After sales service? Parts price? Dont let me go there… Max was just hilighting his preferred gears and u rambling about safety. If u wanna talk safety, just dont condemn about other peoples’ preferences. Make no sense. U wanna safe? Get urself a big F tank.
It’s less about weather or not this is safer ,but more on the overall package. But after that insult I got from Jilbaber [Justin Bieber?] I have a more negative feeling towards Kimchi fans.
bro you forget the most important safety, esc. can fight fiesta and honda city high line
kena langgar dgn lori also mati maaa.. even u put 20 airbags lol
Let me guess: Rm68,888?
SX is RM 78,888 and LX is 73,888, confirm..
so good looking this car, as good as the new Swift…Chevrolet Sonic will be the ugly duckling in this segment
Cool & elegant!!!
Hope The Price Reasonable In Market…
neo will bungkus
neo at this time is already aging la bro..of course this rio is more a looker..
however, taking corner at 160kmh with neo just feel sooo good…try to do that with rio..see where it flies..
where is the road to allowed you having 160kph during cornering? sepang circuit?
if in the normal road, hard to believe..
why so sarcastic? he never mentioned where is the corner..not all driver try to do harder in corner at public road..
I did it once on my other car a Proton Persona on a Brunei Highway. I’m from Sarawak btw. So I guess a Proton can..haha
Fly to a place called moon
? this car is different class compare to neo dude.and 1 mo thing, how in earth it can beat neo??ride?stability?power?
Myvi will smoke Neo 100 times…hahahaha
How about Rio Sedan…any news Danny? I’m sure prefer the sedan version.
Hatch only for now. Perhaps bringing in the sedan will clash with the Forte
Danny, how would it clash? It’s in a different segment. Unless Naza is unable to lower the price of the Rio and thus clash with the Forte.
I assume the next gen Forte would carry a higher price tag.
you mean the price right?
B segment and C segment cars from same company are having to fight with each other
any idea where is the launch?
Just saw this Rio in Medan, Indonesia during my visit there last week. Cost around RM60k++. Let see how much does it cost in Malaysia under Naza. Probably 70k++.
Kia Rio also launch di. When is Mazda 6?
No matter how nice it looks, korean engines still suck big time.
Of course their engines suck. Since Malaysia has not bothered to work on emission regulations, we are left in the dry for all their new GDI and Turbo GDI engines.
Ya, emission regulation please, is time. But that is not the saddest thing we yet to implement the regulation, sad of Malaysian still thought Korean engine designed withhin their country, then what for to have a R&D center in Germany? (Btw, I feel sad too cause it sounds like foreigners thought Malaysian still live up in tree)
yup, due to our bad emission…we miss out on the excellent kia rio crdi diesel, with very low fuel consumption at 88mpg (Uk) ….bttr than those hybrid jazz/insight!
How come the poor quality fuel in Malaysia does not affect Jap engines?
bcos jap engines are stone age tech fr the 90s. very suitable to use our stone age quality fuel.
one word comment: underpowered. okie, s7ven words.
Yeah true, it’s a tad under powered considering that the performance feature is being eclipse by the dugong. I wonder weather is it heavier.
But than again, what it trades in for mediocre performance, are excellent safety features and decent USP. All I want to know now is the interior size and price. The ugly Nissan Almera has one of the best price-space ratio I’ve ever seen, seriously that car is almost C-segment big for only average of 70k and has decent USP, although it’s safety feature and design loses to a one-two punch from Kia.
I’am expecting this to have a similar or more pricing to the Almera.
Finally a compact hb that can compare with fiesta in term of safety..now the only concern is the price kia planning to sell and the driving dynamics..
handsome hatch..60-65k?
With this price Preve can bungkus already.
for a seg-b car everything look nice but the four-speed automatic gearbox a bit …… btw the headlamp very nice design :D
Vios?
i prefer HB car coz look sporty and “gaya” :P
For the first time, they have a nice big range on show.
Rio – B Segment
Forte – C Segment
Optima/K5 – D Segment
Rondo – Compact MPV
Sportage – Compact SUV
Sorento – Midsized SUV
Only thing missing is the new A segment Picanto replacement and the Sedona sized minivan. With the new Rondo also possibly due soon, it certainly bodes well for KIA.
Only thing is, I sure hope they improve their service. Their HR stock probably came from the same people that run Proton, which doesn’t sound promising.
too bad the after sales side still has a lot to deserve
One of the reasons why kimchis have poor RV
desired or deserve?
Only 4 speed auto?? Hmm.. I’m expecting more from Kia..
158k Camry 2.0G oso 4-speeder gearbox only but ppl buy like hotcake.
Damn, people fell for that stone-age piece of hardware?
Camry 2.0G at 158k also 4 speeder gearbox only ppl still buy like hotcakes. So what you expect fr Rio at less than half the price?
hey sucks. Don’t be like toyota. Kia should be better
toyota is world largest car maker most realiable car, Kia just a starter from a junker pretend be Grand
Toyota reliable? so many Cars are being recall few years back. even recently prius also got problems… come on, times to wake up. dont stay at stone age.
Camry has good RV. The way to find out RV of kimchi is to look at the Hilux
Z4 RV better than camry. Been driving it for 3 yrs, no SUI KWAN and KWAI TAI before, my most expensive service is 800+ cause need to change brake pad. The worst thing i get from my Z4 is too powerful!!!!
Hang on, the roar of the engine sound…..
Hang on, cant drift because got ESP (Need to off) ……
Hang on, too much attention when top down…..
Hang on, chick magnet….
Hang on, uncle like Sam Loo will eyesore when he see u…
Want more???!!!!
they dump all the $ into car design part, they seem don’t really care about the performance :(
The LED is much better than Camry LED!
Dear Naza, when u bring KIA SOUL?
It’s a niche market much like Freed. Not going to sell well in Malaysia.
naza did bring in 1 or 2 units for sampling. i saw a unit at its Setapak branch… this was like 3-4 mths back. maybe will email to paul tan.
hoping they will bring in the sedan version as well
Sunroof with 5 start NCAP ratings is good but I’ve been wondering all other vehicles with panoramic glass roofs, paying particular attention to safety. Can they be as strong as a good old lump of steel above your head?
Obviously car manufacturers won’t be sticking a bit of shed glass up there, but its glass,how strong can it be?
A lot of vehicles we are looking get 5 star NCAP tests, but do NCAP test the models with these roofs, and if so what are the results?because I can’t find them ?
what are the chances of something fell on your head…? NCAP never thought of that u think…?
i wonder…
I agree. Can the glass withstand impact and not cave in?
How nice ! If it’s 1.4 twin charger like VW delivering 2.0 performance….then it will be look + power..
If we cannot have everything for a given price, then prioritise safety equipments, with the rest being reasonable. We are not going to compare Picanto size vs Camry(still 4-speed in 2.0L), nor 2-speed auto vs 8-speed, nor CD casette with 1 speaker vs 6-CD 12 speadkers.
Kia is good here in giving common rakyat the choice of decent safety features in their cars. We always hope everyone can follow this step, especially the market leaders who serve paling banyak rakyat biasa.
Hope is much cheaper than the Prius C coz the Rio is the one I will take over it. Im sorry but the Pruis C is just not attractive to me.
BEN , sure is cheaper than prius c, is only 78,888 for full spec.
Looks Development ok, Engine Re-development please.
People here demand so much from Kia, for a very low price. The Vios is more expensive, and offers much less. But it is the best selling non national car, right? This is already a much, much better deal than the Vios. What more do you want?
other than a better powertrain, nothing much…
…we demand more from the next Vios
Saw the car in Australia…quite a looker..been wondering whther they will launch it here or nt…and here it comes…
kimchi car nowdays are better than sushi car in terms of design,reliable n durability and even RV…
those who want to buy, just buy it .. is your Money.. don’t care what other say ! and be happy with whatever your choice…
IMHO, 1.4L 4 speed auto is alright, this is because it is a NA 1.4L. So 4 speed will hv a better pick up. No point putting 6 speed. The spec looks ok just that we do hope the price can lower for a few K or put a 1.6L engine into the Rio for the price that you are charging (assume is 73-78k as stated)
4 speed better pickup than 6? What the…….
Hello brother, number of gears does not tell you how good is the pickup, if pickup is decided by how many gears a vehicle have, a lorry would basically have 1 gear.
Having the 4 speed here might be because that the new 6 speed gb is not compatible with the old 1.4L. Or maybe because of cost cutting strategy where they always dump old technology on us.
Stupid Koreans engine just cannot tahan our weather here
Give up! I’ll stick to myvi and fix it up. Wasnt the 1.5L Vios and Citys at this price range previously. Now we can only get 1.4L cars. Oh my ….
Kimchi tapau
Kia Rio will compete with New Swift.
Both cars really nice design.
Good to see many comments for Korea car launching in Malaysia. In the past only Proton & Perodua entry attract lots of commentators. Good or bad comments does not matter, people starts to take note and show interest, its inevitable. Korea car sales should close in to national or Jap car in the not too far future.
New Rio has a stylish looks.Engines spec. appear good.But one thing about Hyundai and Kia cars which i need to verify further is the ‘rumbling noise’ as you accelerate.
Not sure where the noise comes from.is it the engines,the axle,wind and road sound or their combinations.Need to test drive this car to find out.
Name: First of all, do you understand what is the meaning of D1-D2-D4 on your auto gearbox? This means when you select a ‘D2’, your gearbox will limit the gear shift to first gear and second gear.
Given most NA 1.4L car that is not able to drive beyond 160km/h, there is no point to put a 6 speed gearbox into the car, this is because such a car is designed for everyday economy use, not to drive 160-180km/h as the smaller tyres may not prepare for handling the car at high speed.
A Wira 1.5 Auto only comes with 3 speed GB, where as Camry 2.0G 4 speed GB, well, this is what I called ‘under-engineered’. The 3 speed GB from Wira makes the car consume more fuel (imagine 3rd gear is the max gear you can shift) where as Camry 2.0L, a car with 2.0L engine that is capable to do a 160km/h run, also consume higher fuel at highspeed because the driver will end up revving the car at 5k RPM. BUt of course good gearbox management can help a bit but lower speed GB got its’ limitation.
First of all, I think you have a misconception of the gearbox gear ratio are all equally same. They are not, when you have 4 speed and 6 speed, their efficient range is different. Example is at below.
Having 6 sets of gears would making the ratio in between gears smaller, thus letting you drive at lowest rpm.
E.g 4 gear (optimal gear change at 2.8k rpm),
1st gear: 0 – 20 (kph)
2nd gear: 20 – 40
3rd gear: 40 – 70
4th gear: 70 above
Now with 6 gear (optimal might be lower at 2.4kph)
1st gear: 0 – 20 (kph)
2nd gear: 20 – 35
3rd gear: 35 – 50
4th gear: 50 – 70
5th gear: 70 – 90
6th gear: 90 above
The above might not be accurate, but if you were to compare overall pickup from stand point to 110, the 6 speed will do it faster and more efficient (provided is not a stupid 6 speed box).
For every optimal change, a 6 speed can do it more efficient at lower rpm thus lower fc. Who is the more efficient one now?
For cruising at 80pkh, who is more efficient?
If you are talking about a city car where you are jammed and can’t even reach 80kph consistently, 4 speed, okay I agree. So when these car hits federal road like LDP, Federal Highway how?
No matter how, 6 speed will benefit the car, pickup, fc wise because the gear transition RPM is lower. So my question is, why do you still feel that a 4 speed box will pickup more faster than a 6 speed box? And I can’t understand the comparison of wira and camry, please explain more. I did typed a lot.
As I said, the main reason of having the 4 speed here is engine compatibility and cost cutting issue. They have a lot of old 4 speed box from the previous models and the most effective way to dispose of them is to put them into new cars on 3rd world market. I will continue to monitor our conversation just to let you grasp the right concept.
Pick up can be faster in 4 speed auto box if the gear ratio arranged intentionally in such a way.
But hardly we can see it in normal consumers everyday car.
Well, let me test drive it first, then I’ll decide. I hope it will not end up like Spectra 5….. just another bad experience after Sephia.
Power-to-weight ratio of this new Rio is just normal/common. Which is a disappointment, given the nice looking exterior design.
With just 79kW@109PS peak power and kerb weight of 1170kg (Assumption beased on Rio Australia-spec, but it shouldn’t differ much with M’sia-spec), the power-to-weight ratio is 67.5W/KG.
Together with max torque of just 135Nm@4200rpm, the overall acceleration / pick-up sensation will also be normal/common if not lacking. 1170kg is rather heavy for a B-segment hatch.
As a comparison, Naza will bring another B-segment hatchback soon i.e. Peugeot 208 via, another subsidiary, Nasim.
Its going to be powered by a 1.6L NA engine producing 120PS/88kW and peak torque of 160Nm torque at 4250rpm. Its kerb weight should be around 1140kg. So power-to-weight ratio stood at 77W/kg. Much better and should translate to better overall drive. Of course price-wise, 208 might be costlier. But that is beside the point.
All in all, the Rio we are getting is just a good looking city car. But it should sell well.
On its own, a 1.4L NA engine producing 109PS of power & 135Nm of torque is quite an excellent achievement.
Of cos I know the gear ratio are different, that’s why I try to stress the point of ‘GB management’, fuzz logic kinda stuff so that the GB will judge when to shift the gear for optimum FC, instead of fixing it towards 0-10km/h for 1st gear allocation. Otherwise Camry 2.0G will be a gas guzzler with 4 speed auto running a 2.0L engine. :)
There is no point to put 6 speed auto for a car that is less than 1.5L. Dealing with such a low engine power car, another option is to throw in the CVT GB which is more suitable for smaller engines. You have to understand that the gear will have to rev enough to pull the low powered car too, shifting the car too fast doesn’t help on pulling the car unless it is a CVT.
Just imagine allocating car porches for a 20×60 single storey house is pointless because there are less tenants in the small house compared to a bungalow. It is not necessary about cost cutting, saving bricks and cement. It is pointless.
First, please notice the reply button when you hover over my post. Click on that so that you won’t create another new post.
I do agree to some certain extent, when you include dumb gearbox. But like I’ve mentioned earlier, a smartbox, in example, most twin clutch and mazda skyactiv 6 speed, can shift fast enough to make it feel like cvt.
I have trouble on understanding this part “shifting the car too fast doesn’t help on pulling the car unless it is a CVT.”.
If you meant shift up while the engine is at too low rpm, that’s the reason where the extra gear ratio comes into help. The gear, let’s say 2nd and 3rd. For 4 sgb, the engine will need 2.8k rpm to upshift smoothly to 3rd gear @ 2k rpm. But on the 6 sgb, it can upshift at 2.4k rpm into the 2krpm range of the 3rd gear. Do you understand this?
Cost wise, it will lose out to cvt and 4 speed gear box but then, is this not a cost cutting saving bricks problem? A 6 speed is not in a car is not pointless as it can further optimize the gear to engine optimal working zone.
“shifting the car too fast doesn’t help on pulling the car unless it is a CVT.”
You lose some power when your car is shifting, that will gives the 4 speed auto in advantage when it comes to racing. Whether 4 speed or 6 speed, it all matters on how the drive train and gear box work together, putting a 6 speed GB into a 1.4L car will also increase its’ weight, I understand cars like Chevy Sonic 1.4 comes with 6 speed GB but on a 0-100kmh sprint, it lose out to Kia Rio. But of course, it is the overall package that matters, not necessary it is due to 4 speed GB.
No point to allocate a car porches that big enough to park 4 cars when the house is only 20×60 in size.
if the pricing is right this will sell like hotcakes….but since we have NAP i doubt the price will be around 60 to 70K especially when KIA confirms only the highline model offered.
fingers crossed huhuhuh
In Indonesia, it siblings from Hyundai Grand Avega looks nicer http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=ms-android-verizon&tbo=d&source=android-search-app&v=133247963&biw=533&bih=320&q=hyundai+grand+avega+2013&oq=hyundai+grand+avega+2013&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..0.46828.54512.0.56556.7.4.1.2.3.0.452.1368.2-1j2j1.4.0.les%3B..0.0…1ac.1.g1NYy5Vo_dc#miuv=0
Between Kia Rio or Viva. We all pick Viva
as long as Naza is involved, after sales service deter consumers (who tasted the ‘bau’) forever!
End of the day when you want to change car…. for the normal folks, we still need to trade in or sell the beloved machine as not to break our bank account. Best is if you don’t need to consider RV, then you’ll have a wider choice. Simply put, RV is the concern of not so effluent folks.
Ppl who are concern bout resale value are ppl who cant afford to spend so much on the car. Not that we need to but just the taxation imposed.
Only 1.4…pffff my Old Myvi can tapau this Rio like no other tomorrow
Mr.Seafood , are you sure?
Here comes the Angry Bird(Rio)!