What, you didn't think that Kia was going to let Hyundai have all the
big-dollar fun, did you? Hyundai may have blazed a trail upmarket with
its Genesis Sedan and more recently, the Equus,
but its corporate sibling, Kia, has arguably been autodom's hottest
brand the last few years, with increases in style, tech, consumer
consideration and sales that are the envy of the industry. So it's no
surprise that it isn't stopping its North American product onslaught
with its just-introduced 2014 Cadenza sedan, it's reportedly readying
its premium-minded rear-drive Quoris cruiser for a launch here next
year.
That's according to a new report from
Automotive.com,
which spoke with Kia officials at the media launch of the Cadenza. The
oddly named Quoris ("derived from the English words 'core' and
'quality,'" says Kia),
will likely nuzzle up against its Equus stablemate when it debuts,
carrying an estimated $50,000 to $70,000 price tag. To our eyes, the Kia
looks markedly more contemporary than the Equus inside-and-out (no
surprise, it's a much newer design). And there's even more reason for
optimism on Kia's behalf: the Hyundai Equus has been doing just fine on
the sales front – even before its recently introduced facelift.
So it's not unreasonable to interpret the luxury sedan market as open
to the idea of owning a full-size luxury sedan from a non-traditional
country.
In other news, Kia recently exhumed its elderly Sedona
minivan, dusting it off, putting a little more frosting on its flanks
and trotting it out to customers anew for 2014. The people mover's odd,
Lazarus-like reanimation moment apparently isn't lost on Kia executives,
who still very much want a modern minivan. According to the same
report, an all-new Sedona, likely informed by 2011's funky KV7 Concept,
is still a ways off – but we could hear more about it as early as later
this year.
***Courtesy of Autoblog.com
