Geneva Motor Show 2011: A sneak preview of the 2012 Kia Rio !
The Geneva Motor Show had not even started that the people from Kia had already shown their new Rio model.
While the current model goes totally unnoticed in the automobile world, this new version is just about to change this paradigm! Aesthetically more attractive, both on the outside and in the passenger compartment, the future Rio model is also larger, with a bigger trunk area. This sub-compact which tends to become less sub and more compact will benefit, at least in Europe, from high-end equipment such a heated steering wheel, for example.. Word has it in Kia circles that the next passenger compartment will be much more silent than previously.
The Kia Rio model will be offered in three or five-door formats, at least in Europe. The people from this continent will be offered a choice between four engines, two gas and two diesel powered vehicles, their horsepower ranging from 69 to 109 hp. Bear in mind that these are European figures. In America, forget about diesel and consider, without any doubt, the addition of a more powerful engine. No one knows yet if the chassis is all new, but we already know that the MacPherson suspension up front remains the same and that the torsion bar at the rear will be made more rigid.
The Rio will be on sale at Canadian retailers as of the fall of 2011.
And why not the Picanto, while we are at it!
Kia took advantage of the Rio launch by also presenting its new Picanto, a micro-car which is becoming less and less micro. More imposing (slightly) than the model it replaces, the Picanto will be offered in Europe in a three or five-door formats, to be put on sale around the summer of 2011. It is not planned that this small and very pretty little vehicle will come to America.
