Prior to its world debut at the 2015 New York International Auto Show (2015 NYIAS), the 2016 Kia Optima was previewed as the Kia Sportspace concept (pictured above). The presence of an estate/wagon body style led many to believe that the fourth-generation Optima would, for the first time, be offered in such a state.
Alas, Kia has confirmed to Autoguide that a wagon version of the 2016 Kia Optima will progress no further than its current concept guise as fears of it cannibalising sales from the Kia Sorento began to surface the moment production plans were motioned.
“We looked at it. It’s a beautiful car and obviously it’s a big deal in Europe mainly because they love estates over there,” said Orth Hendricks, vice president of product planning at Kia Motors North America. With that said, he added that “what we found is that an Optima wagon (customer) is right on top of our Sorento (buyer).” As a result, the numbers did not add up in favour of the Optima wagon, effectively stalling plans.
GALLERY: Kia Sportspace concept
GALLERY: 2016 Kia Optima
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What a waste. It can easily tapau the Toyota Caldina.
whaaat..? you wanna compare it with the 2007 caldina or what? that thing 7-8 years already..!! or are you being sarcastic? damn i confused
Nobody will bat an eye on kimchis anymore after our Camry Hybrid launch.
Buy Toyota better, good RV.
Latest Camry hybrid booking: 72
Sebok ngn RV Toyota dia.. padahal si Sam Loo ni sebenarnya pakai Proton Saga je.. xcaya, pi rumah dia tengok…
Sam has to work very hard for next 10years to change his son saga to this car.
The code name for this vehicle is RM10
Thats just too bad, cos I think the wagon looks better than the sedan.
They can just offer Optima wagon for Europe only. Americans can have the Sorento. It only sell well in the US.
That way they lose the company car market in Europe, which is often D segment wagons. The companies won’t be going for a SUV.
Why Kia whyyyyyy ;_;
Wow .. Awesome wheels …
It looks nice but it ain’t going to move in huge number. At the end of the day, it all boils down to number game and profitability.
Look at Malaysian market, wagon hardly move and thus, a rarity. Somehow, Asian still prefer suv or cuv over wagon.
Some MPV is actually a wagon, stretched B/C segment counterparts. Alza = myvi wagon. Jade = civic wagon, caren = k3 wagon, wish = yaris wagon
Why KIA why??? I love wagons too. Now, make a RIO GT and I am a happy KIA driver :)
For me, those people who buy car based on RV rather than specification and satisfaction are poor people pretending to be rich. If you really want to make money, please buy gold ,don’t buy car.
for me, people who buy car based on RV rather than specification and satisfaction are poor people pretending to be rich people. If you want to make money ,please buy gold not car