Official teaser sketches of the new 2016 Kia Optima have been released ahead of the car’s world premiere at the 2015 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) on April 1. The upcoming Korean D-segment challenger was previewed by the Sportspace concept in Geneva, and it appears the production version will stay remarkably faithful to the original vision.
From the looks of things, the design of the new fourth-gen Optima will be an evolution of the current TF‘s striking aesthetic, which still looks fresh after five years in production. The new headlights and grille are slimmer and sharper than before, and the lower front bumper gets a more aggressive set of air intakes.
Moving down the side, the bodyside appears more sculpted and the fender vents better integrated into the design, and while the glasshouse retains the distinctive side window and rear windscreen treatment, it looks to have been stretched further back to create a more coupé-like roofline. Finishing off the look are sharper tail lights and a more aggressive rear diffuser design, along with large alloy wheels in a turbine design.
No indication as to what the design of the interior will look like – the sporty, pared back cabin was one of the Sportspace’s more fanciful aspects, and we wonder if the production Optima will be able to replicate that to any degree. Speaking of the Sportspace, the wagon body style it portrayed should make it into production, as it would enable Kia to gain a foothold in estate-favouring Europe, much like the i40 Tourer did for Hyundai.
Under the bonnet, the Optima should mark the production debut of the T-Hybrid powertrain – previewed on the Optima T-Hybrid concept and the Sportspace – that mates a 1.7 litre CRDi turbodiesel engine with a small electric motor and a 48 V lead-carbon battery. Revised versions of the current 2.0 and 2.4 litre mills, with or without turbocharging or direct injection, are also expected to be featured.
Kia Sportspace concept
2016 Kia Optima spyshots
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OMG ! Is that face-lifted Camry front that this K Junk tries to imitate ? No KIA JunkFan had to eat their own words for insulting face-lifted Camry..Muahaha
The kimchi car looks prettier, the sourer faces I will see in my showroom during trade in nego.
Marvelous…sure better design & RV than Camry.
Bro, your nickname & comment sound ridiculous.
Don’t overdose yourself on cocaine.
This fella was shown the Hilux earlier in the week, almost jumped into the monsoon drain.
Bangla security guards saved him. Now he sell backside in Lorong Haji Taib
I’m waiting for Sam Loo’s approval.
WAITING.. WAITING.. WAITING.. :) :) :)
SURE BETTER IN EVERY ASPECT THAN ACCORD.. SONATA.. N CAMRY.
wow.. nice design! way way better than new sonata and camry
WAITING.. WAITING.. WAITING..
ITS GOIN TO BE BEST CAR IN ALL ASPECT THN ACCORD.. SONATA.. AND THE UGLY CAMRY :) :)
It make Camry like a Ah Pek car..
Cars like this and the Genesis will eventually shift the perception of Korean cars, and the mindless queue heading to overpriced German options. German cars are generally very good, but not worth what we pay for them.
As a current k5 owner, im somewhat disappointed at the sketch since it means that Kia intends to play it safe with the design.
Look at what happened to Hyundai with their new Sonata, while it still looks great it exudes a rather ‘mild’ aura… Similiar to what happened to Camry and Accord.
If anything, it looks as if the Japs finally learnt their lesson and are the ones ‘wowing’ us with more agressive designs. (Except Honda and Subaru, who seem to be realllllly stubborn.)
If the next Optima ever looks like the Sportspace concept then id buy it in a heartbeat. Otherwise at the rate things are going, I would have to consider the Mazda 6 2.5 as my next car.
A sleeker K5 ? not bad looking though … i hope it drives better too ..
Well that’s great news! What a good looker judging from the sketch alone.I hope it’s shorter in length than the current K5 because it’s too long.I hope the air blade wheels come to production!
gorgeous man.. It describes every character that it wants to portray.. Hope it doesnt differ much from the production unit
In one of the Driven Series, Paul Tan himself complained that the Optima was so noisy in the interior that he wants to exit the car as soon as possible.
Its a piece of rotten cabbage, period
I super hailat this week. Almost jumped into the monsoon drain at a used kimchi seller.
Dem sui. Should have sold 6 months earlier after Sam advised to do so