Kia flagship saloon going after top players

A VERY Euro-centric look, rear-wheel-driven, V6 and V8 petrol engines up to 5.0 litres, one of them turbocharged – will the likes of BMW, Audi and Lexus tremble in their designer boots at the sight of Kia’s luxury saloon?

It’s hard to say if it’s a case of optimism, confidence or stubbornness, but Kia has finally unveiled the all-new second-generation of its fullsize luxury saloon, the K900.

Despite extremely modest sales of the firstgeneration in the US, where the car was codesigned at Kia’s design studio in Irvine, California, the South Korean manufacturer has gone ahead with a complete redesign of its flagship saloon.

The K900 was first introduced in Korea back in 2012, where it was the first Kia saloon to adopt a rear-wheel drivetrain that was developed in-house by its own engineers.

In some respects, the luxury saloon has helped to elevate Kia’s brand value in a number of key markets around the world, particularly Korea and North America. But the new version has a long, long way to go before it starts to worry the models it was designed to rival, such as the BMW 7 Series, Lexus LS and the Audi A8.

This is considerably more than a generational redesign or a major refresh though, and that’s because the only thing this new model carries over from the first-generation of the K900 is its name.

Kia Motors Corporation president and CEO, Han-Woo Park, says of the new car: “The K900 is a flagship luxury saloon at the pinnacle of our product line-up, showcasing Kia’s finest technology and design capabilities. We strongly believe that the K900 will elevate every aspect of the Kia brand to a new level.”

Four different engines will be available under the bonnet of the new K900, although some will only be offered in select markets. Three of the powerplants will be V6s and the fourth will be a V8. The V6s will be made up of a naturallyaspirated petrol-powered 3.3-litre GDI (gasoline direct injection) and a 3.8-litre GDI, and a variation of the turbocharged 3.3-litre T-GDI that’s currently getting a lot of love under the bonnet of the acclaimed Kia Stinger four-door fastback/”grand tourer”. The final member of the engine quartet is a 5.0-litre V-8 GDI, which is the most powerful engine Kia has ever seen fit to produce.

The new Kia K900 will soon be on sale in the company’s domestic market of South Korea, the Middle East and the US, and will then become available in other markets in due course. – AFP Relaxnews