Report: Kia Updating or Releasing Seven Models By 2015

Don’t get to used to the Kia lineup as it presently stands, as it’s about to get shaken up in the next few years.  New reports suggest the Korean automaker will either update or introduce seven models between the second half of next 2012 and the first half of 2015.

Automotive News reports that Kia’s major models, including the Soul, Sorento, Sportage, Optima, and Forte will receive updates around 2014. The Forte sedan–which we’ve already seen as the K3/Cerato sedan–will debut in January of this year, with a Forte Koup coupe and five-door hatchback following a few months later. The Optima will be due for a mid-cycle refresh in 2014, with some as-yet-undetermined visual changes coming in the summer of 2013. The U.S. market Sorento will follow the international-market model, and receive minor visual changes as Kia places it atop the new Hyundai Santa Fe platform. The Sportage, meanwhile, will get a new grille and front fascia, and arrive in dealers late next summer as a 2014 model.

The Soul will receive some similar chassis upgrades – yes, it’s due for a full redesign, but the boxy hamstermobile will also now ride atop the new Hyundai Accent/Kia Rio. Don’t expect a serious change to the car’s look, however, as the Soul’s boxy, funky aesthetic has brought it plenty of success.

With those upgrades already in process, Kia’s focusing some of its energy on two new models, the Cadenza and Quoris. The Cadenza will be a front-wheel drive large sedan powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine, making it essentially a Kia version of the Hyundai Azera. The Quoris, meanwhile, will ride atop a rear-wheel-drive platform and use a 3.8-liter V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission–sound familiar? It’s quite similar to the Hyundai Genesis sedan. The Quoris will reportedly be Kia’s technological powerhouse, adding new technological features like blind spot information systems, lane departure warning systems, and radar-guided cruise control. The Cadenza will bow next summer as a 2014 model, and the Quoris should debut in 2014 as a 2015 model.

What is uncertain, however, is the future of the GT Concept. The car would be powered by a turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6 engine making 390 hp and 394 lb-ft of torque, sending its power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. But the commercial future of the GT–and its suicide doors and four-door-coupe body–is unclear as Kia designer Peter Schreyer struggles to have the model green-lit by Kia suits.

Source: Automotive News