The 2016 Paris Motor Show has been confirmed as the venue for the 2017 Kia Rio’s world debut, and the Korean carmaker has released a couple of official teaser renderings of the fourth-generation hatchback ahead of the September event.
While the current B-segment hatchback‘s general form and design has been maintained (no bad thing), the new model’s straight lines and smooth surfacing give it a distinctive new character, Kia says.
There’s a longer front overhang and bonnet, longer wheelbase, and upright C-pillar compared to the outgoing Rio UB. The result is a more confident and balanced appearance, says its maker. Not mentioned, but the U-shaped LED DRLs with brow and “triple 7” rear LED signatures are pretty cool.
The new Rio’s design was led by Kia’s design centres in Germany and California, in close collaboration with the company’s main design centre in Namyang, Korea. Kia promises “class-leading practicality and safety technology, the latest connectivity features, and more assured and engaging ride and handling characteristics.”
There’s also a sketch of the new car’s dashboard, and it’s a lot more modern in appearance, with a wide swathe of trim across the dash like on the Carens. Sporty and minimalist too, with a big touchscreen HU, AC controls and a row of rocker switches the only elements on the centre stack. We like what we see so far.
The new Rio – which takes on the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta, Renault Clio and Peugeot 208 in Europe – is a very important model for the company. In fact, it’s Kia’s global best-selling model, with more than 473,000 sold worldwide in 2015. This next-gen car will enter production towards the end of 2016 for Europe.
Also fresh are the spyshots below. The few details visible under the camouflage match those on the sketches.
GALLERY: 2017 Kia Rio spyshots
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Korean 4 door Scirocco
Looking at the improvement on design of koreans car …Malaysian yet still so proud of our so call lagi best car…kesian giler…
Kalau kesian tolonglah, your kesian cannot make Malaysian cars look pretty in a blink of an eye
It shows that a conservative, even somewhat generic (almost whosesale VW copy) design can be beautiful. Lets see the real car.
why can’t’ P1 have something like this for Satria Neo 2nd Gen? Opps forgot, no suitable engine!
Gud things comes to those who wait
A curvaceous Golf Mk7, i’d say. Like the cohesive design.
New Persona baby rims are better.
V nice. The disguised test cars look just as good
if it looks like the concept that will be great.