These are the first spy pictures of the new mini MPV, codenamed YN, that Kia has been secretly developing at it’s Namyang research and development center in South Korea.
The first prototype was captured recently, by the crew of Autowereld spy photographers, when undergoing road testing. When mini MPV goes on sale, this will be Kia’s first venture into the mini MPV market, currently owned by Opel Meriva and Renault Modus.
Latest info coming from Kia states that the minivan will be based on the same platform as upcoming Kia Soul and Hyundai i20 compacts. We don’t know much at this point as far as engines go, suffice to say a wide range of four cylinder diesel and gasoline engines will be avaliable.
Production is expected to start at the Zilina, Slovakia, facility in the spring of 2009 with cars reaching dealerships across the Europe shortly afterwards as a 2010 model. Official presentation of the new Kia minivan is expected to happen at Geneva Motor Show next year. [Source: Autowereld.com]
Click image to enlarge!
Hey! this is the car that was under the red sheet in an earlier article!
So, the rumours were true. Kia is getting an MPV based on a small car platfrom [soul/Rio]. the A pillar is divided into two, to reduce A pillar blind spots and the lower window-line is exactly the same as picanto’s. The rear shows a promise of a large cargo space but whats with the grille. I dont remember any Kia concept with that type of grille. Reminds me of the 90s Rav4. It seems its in the early stages of real-world testing because as far as I’ve heard, brake test are one of the first things in real-world testing.
I heard in januari rumors that KIA was developing a mini MPV based on the cee’d, something like the Golf plus. A MPV smaller than the Carens. They said that normaly we may aspect him in early 2009. greatz
I think it will be launched in late 2009 or mid 2009 because testing has just started. I think it will get engines ranging from 1.6 – 2.0L displacements.
It looks attractive already! I don’t know what you mean by the type of grille Boris. It looks the same as seen on KOUP concept to me.
Did you notice it’s sharp sideline?And how low it is for a minivan.
Yes. its a very sharp character line and the handles look low as well [lower down from the window-line than usual]
The grille has chrome ‘dots’ on it. The Koup didnt have any chrome on its grille except on the ‘KIA’ badge. Or is that reflection off the black tabs on the grille?
Is there any information for which markets will see this car? The Rondo/ Carens is smaller than the short wheelbase Sedona, and the Spectra 5 and soon to appear Soul will be smaller than it. Will this vehicle be similar to the Suzuki SX4?
—Is there any information for which markets will see this car?—
-Production is expected to start at the Zilina, Slovakia, facility –
there’s the answer. any car made in that plant is reserved for Europe.
Storm damage everywhere! Manistee got hit by a massive storm. I will post some pictures as soon as possible. I am currently at a coffee shop with internet. Half of Manistee is without power, and trees are down everywhere. Floods everywhere also. We needed to buy a snorkel for Optima. Power will hopefully be back on on Monday. I will hopefully ge back to the coffee shop soon. Sorry this is off-topic, but I don’t have time. We are in a flash flood warning, and a tornado warning. We are told to take shelter immediately. Talk to you soon.
In a federal disaster area,
Greg
—Spy shots: 2010 Kia minivan—
I wouldnt call it a minivan cuz its not a van at all. MPV is a better reference as it stands for Multi Purpose Vehicle.
This car is for de European Market, there is also small facelifts coming for Rio, Carnival, Carens, Sorento at the end of this year. The only thing I know of the carens are the knew colours. The production of the “facelifts” starts probably in september in Korea. At the end of August I know more of this.
Maybe thats what he meant.
There is at this time no production off Rio, Carnival, Carens, Sorento for Europe in Korea. Magentis & Sportage have so as you know getting a facelift. There come a new Sportage in 2011. Sorento 2009 – 2010. At the Sorento will be probably a few small changes. For the engine of the new Sorento I picked some rumors that there will be also a 2.2 CRDi available (from the Hyundai Santa Fé)
You probably didnt see the spy shots of the new sorento, the new sorento has not got a facelift. Its been completely changed. Instead of its previous BOF chasis, its got a crossover’s, untit body chasis and is much larger and its possible that its getting a third row seats.
I’ve seen the spy shots of the new Sorento, and yes it will be a complete new model! The only thing I know of the “old” sorento is that the production is stopped in Korea, for changings. I don’t think that the New Sorento will be launched in december 2008. In august I have officialy confirmation what will happen. That’s all I know for now.
They’ve stopped production. Then that means the new sorento will come earlier than we expected.
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Hey! Can someone tell me if the grille has chrome dots on it or is it reflection of black plastic stuff??????!!!!!
apart from the fact that the side view looks like a toyota yaris, i love the thing. plus, i think it may have a panoramic roof… or just black painted roof~
If this is kia’s first MPV, what’s the Rondo???
my suspicions about the panoramic roof have been confirmed by this Leftlane article!!! its also using the same steering wheel as the soul.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/kia-ceed-plus.html
Pat, you’re right, it does look like yaris from the side but I’m reluctant to mention Toyota [or Ford] because of some members. Josh, it not Kia’s first MPV. First the mini-MPV. Rondo is a mid-size MPV.
Finally a panoramic sunroof in a Kia vehicle. I’ve been waiting to see this happen for about two years now.
Did you notice it’s low roof-line, almost non minivan looking. You could think this is Rio replacement at a quick glance.
Its not a mini van. its not a van. It looks like a european replacement for rio.
This is a smaller Rondo, yet still a MPV. I agree on the sunroof-kudos to Kia Motors. This is what Kia needs to produce right now, as well as alternate propulsion methods of moving babies like this along. Boycott the middle-man sort of thing. Ghastly prices are going through the roof! Make an all-electric, hybrid or fuel-cell version of this, Kia! Or, like that guy Boris was mentioning in Australia, buy the rights to power it with air! Pro-active is the norm, Kia, or else people will stop buying new cars altogether. It could happen. And, yes, it is already happening right now, as I type. People are putting off buying new cars because of high ghastly prices. High ghastly prices have risen the prices of staples like milk, corn, etc. When there’s only money to buy food at inflated prices, people will put off buying new cars. And they are doing just that. So let’s put on and keep on our thinking caps and figure out another, smarter, longer-lasting way of propelling these things called cars. Quit buying oil. It’s drying out anyway. Kabeesh? Kabeesh.
Some jap co. made a car that runs on water! Is that cool or what. UAE is testing hybrid cars to see if they can survive the arabian heat. and a floating solar panel will provide power for certain parts of Dubai. I hope Kia also makes a hybrid soon and brings it here.
Kia has got something very innovative in their Lotze innovation. Its the ECO-drive system. there’s an article about it on Kia BUZZ. Himi, could you post it on the blog?
Actually, the high fuel prices are driving people away from ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota, and heaing to the Kia lot.
K-Sport, what makes you say they stopped production of Sorento? In Belgium we can still order them “ŕ la carte”….
D said that. not me. Look at the comment above mine.
yeah K-Sport i guess ur talking about honda when u say “some jap co.” and the “car that runs on water” is the FCX Clarity i guess… BTW its only available for rent and only if ur approved and live in california. its pretty much the same deal as the other hydrogen cars such as BMW Hydrogen7 available to celebs and government ppl and also the hydrogen fuel cell hyundai tucson/kia sportage curently available to korean and US government ppl. the hyundai FCEV is the only car to have earned perfect scores in a hydrogen car challenge/comp. (Challenge bibendum) link: http://worldwide.hyundai-motor.com/common/html/about/news_event/press_read_2007_34.html
as hyundai said before, they will make hybrid cars from 2009 IIRC and hydrogen from 2010 or 2011… so, yeah its coming but i see hydrogen as stupid and ignorant. people think its more “green” but you actually damage the environment by making the hybrid batteries in the first place. you still need fuel to run it over some speed. all-electric cars such as tesla’s roadster is great, and coupled with a solar panel, it will be one of the best choices for the future, along with hydrogen cars.
No its not Honda. Its a company called Genepax.
And for hydrogen. There are other ways to make hydrogen [eg: green plants, algae] .
And along with that, scientists are testing a battery that is built buy microbes and wont harm the enviroment when discarded just like a turtle shells doesnt harm the enviroment when turt dies .
There is so much going on in science to make eco friendly automobiles.
Who ever had made a bet in the past that cars will go out of fashion soon, they’re gonna take out their wallets cuz cars are here to stay and they will evolve to survive just like animals have evolved over centuries to survive.
lol turtle shells dont harm the environment when it dies… never thought of that? haha
i’ll have a look at the genepax soon… thanks for the info~
oh yeah and theres also the car that runs on air… thats interesting too!
I love that one. There are two ways to power cars with it.
there will have to be at least two rortary air engines to drive picanto. Atleast 5-7 of them to move borrego.
Or, it might have to be like a hybrid. runs on air till a certain speed followed buy the take over of the gas engine.