ANOTHER long-awaited Korean car was launched in a Brazilian Rio de Janeiro-themed thanksgiving party for the members of the media yesterday at the Sunset Pavilion of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. The night started on a high note as guests were served dinner and cocktails while upbeat samba music was being provided by Nyko Maca and Gafiera. Columbian Autocar Corp.’s president Ginia Domingo opened the night and expressed her thanks to the media practitioners as well as the Kia guests—Seon Pil Choi, Kia Motors Corp. president, Asia-Pacific Region, and Hyuk Moon Pil, Kia Motors Corp. manager, Asia-Pacific Region.
“Tonight, we in the Kia family are especially excited that you are here to witness the launch of our newest addition to Kia, the all-new Kia Rio! And as our key partners in the business, you will be first to see the all-new Rio up close and personal,” Domingo said.
Before revealing the all-new 2012 Kia Rio, the host asked a question of the night which was, “What is attractiveness?” The guests were even asked who, in their opinion, the hottest Azkal was. The usual replies came expectedly, “Phil,” “James,” “Aly” were some of the names that were heard. To everyone’s delight, Chieffy Caligdong came into the venue driving the Kia Rio. As it was explained in the videos that were shown that evening, true beauty and desirability does not come from having a glowing skin, a manly fragrance or even a killer smile. He who had the Rio was the hottest of all the Philippine Azkals.
This writer saw the eagerness of some of the guests to test-drive the Kia Rio on display while I sat back to rush this story as I already had a sneak peek of the Rio four-door sedan a couple of months ago in Seoul with Precious Casao, public relations and events officer of Columbian Autocar Corp., as well as C! Magazine’s Kevin Limjoco; and Top Gear Philippines’s Patrick Tadeo and Alfred Mendoza.
During that special preview of the Rio, the temperature was -2°C. When we visited the R&D Center in Namyang, the first drops of snowflakes in Seoul settled gently on us. We drove the four-door sedans (LX and EX), both manual and automatic versions, through the beautiful bridges and wide roads around Incheon. The new Rio, which is the fourth-generation Kia vehicle christened as such, is set to heat up the compact car segment.
In addition to appealing to consumers’ aesthetic tastes, the new Kia Rio will spearhead the company’s efforts to significantly grow its market share across the globe by offering potential owners industry-leading environmental credentials.
CO2 emissions for the model range on sale in general markets start at just 125 g/km, confirming that the B-segment Rio is highly competitive compared with other models in its class.
“The new Kia Rio model is a revolution, not an evolution from its predecessor. Rio has always been a commercial success and with this new incarnation we now have a car which is extremely attractive with a fresh feeling of sportiness—a car that people will want to buy for its new looks, as well as for its new premium feeling, generous features and environmental credentials,” Thomas Oh, senior executive vice president and COO of Kia Motors Corp., said.
Since its launch in 2005, global sales of the third-generation Kia Rio have totaled more than 860,000 units. It was the company’s third best-selling vehicle in overseas markets during 2010, with sales of more than 219,000 units.
“With the already popular Soul and new Rio models in three body styles appealing to people who want to stand out from the crowd or need a spacious and versatile compact car, Kia is confident of capturing a much larger share of this growing market segment. Despite our earlier Rio successes, today Kia has a relatively low profile in the B-segment. Now, with new Rio we are set to attract a host of new customers to Kia showrooms, drawn by our latest model’s styling, pricing, fuel consumption and value for money. With its choice of body styles, the new Rio will appeal to a much wider demographic than before. It will continue the process of dramatically improving public perceptions of the Kia brand and converting that new awareness into profitable conquest sales as demonstrated by Kia’s global performance in Q1 this year,” Oh concluded.
Viewed head on, this new vehicle has its own unique interpretation of the Kia corporate grille which is integrated beautifully with the front lamps to create a new twist on the Kia family look. In this latest form, the Kia logo now sits above the grille. Below the grille, the treatment of front bumper and spoiler again shows signs of the Kia design DNA, with its distinctive on-road presence.
From the rear, the new Rio shows its connection with the Sportage, too, through its strong and stable design, flowing C-pillar, dominant high shoulder and fast rear screen angle. The coupe-like roofline contrasts dramatically with the strong and static rear bumper and gives a power and solidity to the rear view.
Optional features available on new Rio cars for the general markets will include items such as 17-inch alloy wheels, smart-key entry system with engine start/stop button, radio CD player with MP3 compatibility plus AUX, iPod and USB connections, Bluetooth hands-free (EX only), cruise control, climate-control air-conditioning (EX only), a cooled glove box and UV protection glass.
The new Rio’s cabin is more spacious than the previous model. The base of the windscreen is moved forward by 156 mm and up by 18 mm, which, together with the 70-mm longer wheelbase and 25-mm wider body shell, brings space benefits for all occupants and for cargo capacity. Front legroom is increased by 45 mm, front headroom by eight mm and rear knee room by 34 mm. The trunk space in the Rio sedan models has improved by 14.4 percent and is now 125-mm wider with a capacity of 389 liters.
In general markets, Kia offers two highly efficient four-cylinder gasoline engines—1.4-liter Gamma or 1.25-liter Kappa, generating 107 or 87 ps of power, respectively.
A popular and well-proven power unit in Kia’s engine lineup, the updated Gamma fitted in the new Rio has friction-reducing modifications and dual CVVT (continuously variable valve timing), to achieve a responsive performance and competitively modest fuel consumption. With maximum output of 107 ps at 6,300 rpm and peak torque of 135 Nm at 4,200 rpm, this engine can propel the Rio five-door manual model to 100 kph in 11.5 seconds and enable it to reach a top speed of 183 kph.
The Rio’s suspension and running gear have been totally re-engineered to carry over that popular car’s responsive handling while improving stability, ride quality and refinement in line with heightened customer expectations.
The electric power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering called MDPS now features a combined torque/angle sensor to protect against side wind gusts. Speed-sensitive, the system is geared to require just 2.82 turns (lock-to-lock). The use of electric, rather than hydraulic, power assistance results in a 3-percent fuel saving.
The MDPS system is standard on EX and optional on LX models, which feature an unassisted manual system with 4.42 turns (lock-to-lock) as standard. The four-spoke steering wheel is tilt adjustable for height on all models and telescopic adjustment of the steering wheel for reach is an available option on EX models.
Mounted on a subframe to isolate road shocks, the MacPherson strut front suspension is largely unchanged, with small alterations to reduce friction and accommodate the new model’s longer wheelbase, wider track and different weight distribution.
The Rio’s braking system features 256 x 22 mm ventilated front discs and 203 x 10 mm drum brakes at the rear, as standard. The performance of the braking system can be supported by the optional ABS antilock with electronic brake force distribution system.
An all-new bodyshell was created for the Rio using a higher percentage of ultra high-strength steel (UHTS) than the third-generation model, enhancing the structure’s strength and rigidity. To improve progressive deformation during a frontal impact, special attention was given to strengthening the engine-bay longitudinal side members, the fender apron and the transverse dashboard bulkhead to absorb and disperse forces more effectively.
The challenge of improving side-impact protection, where crumple zones are much smaller, was tackled by fitting stronger side sill members made from roll-formed UHTS steel, with UHTS B-pillars and cross-members between the B-pillars at floor and roof level. For further protection, the front door interior trims are optimized with armrest and trim components designed to minimize and evenly spread loads.
Kia’s engineers are confident that new Rio will achieve a five-star safety rating in EuroNCAP crash tests, following the top five-star ratings scored by the cee’d, Venga, Soul, Sportage and Sorento—and a top score rating in other official crash safety tests around the world.
The Kia Rio sounds like a perfect vehicle not just for Filipinos but for growing Korean residents in the country as well. It’s fuel-efficient, easy to maintain, very safe, comfortable, spacious, easy to drive and park. The all-new Kia Rio sedans are now available and they are priced at P598,000 (four-door 1.2L LX M/T); P678,000 (four-door 1.4L EX M/T); P718,000 (1.4L EX A/T) and P838,000 for the 1.4 EX A/T five-door hatchback sedan.
