Wheels Australia — August 2016

KIA is poised to unleash a new

rear-wheel-drive large sedan with

the performance of a Ford Falcon

XR6 Turbo.

The new model, codenamed CK,

could arrive in Australia as early as

the second half of 2017 – although

more likely early 2018 – priced

from about $40,000.

It will take styling cues from two

of Kia’s well-received concept cars

• the four-door GT (Frankfurt 2011)
  and GT4 Stinger (Detroit 2014).
  The new rear-drive sports sedan
  will come with a choice of 2.0-litre
  four-cylinder turbo and an all-new
  3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 producing
  some 280kW and 510Nm –
  comparable with the departing XR
  Turbo’s 270kW and 533Nm.
  Kia will offer the four-pot as the
  price leader, while the V6 turbo will
  be the performance hero.
  And it’s the V6 turbo variant that

could prove a tempting proposition

for those stepping out of a Falcon

or Commodore.

While the Kia V6 would not have

the cachet or sound of the V8s that

have typically dominated the local

rear-drive performance segment,

it will be a rare breed in a market

increasingly shifting to more fuel-

efficient front-drive models.

That’s something not lost on Kia

Australia boss Damien Meredith:

“I think it’s a great opportunity for

us in regards to the timing of that

vehicle entering the marketplace

and the unfortunate closure ... of

Australian manufacturing.”

Meredith told Wheels there are

enough enthusiasts who appreciate

the dynamic benefits of a high-

performance rear-wheel-drive car

who will be tempted by a price

tag that undercuts the European

luxury mid-sizers.

He said that the imminent

demise of the Falcon and

Commodore is “going to give it a

strong base”.

While affordable rear-drive large

cars are out of fashion, no brand

offers an affordable alternate

to premium rear-drive mid-size

offerings like the BMW M3.

Meredith sais he

early clay models o

it combines both f

sleeker sportier co

“I’ve been fortun

see it and I think a

the two is closer to

cues,” he told Whee

“It’s very excitin

Testing of the ne

is already well und

our spy photograp

outside Hyundai’s

HQ in California at

WHEE

Kia developing secret 280kW turbo

sedan with Oz in mind

teased as the New York

Concept in March and will be

called the Genesis G70.

Both CK and G70 are being

developed under Albert

Biermann, who headed BMW’s

M Division before being poached

to lead high-performance

vehicle development for the two

Korean brands.

An even higher tune for

the V6 turbo will be used to

produce a Mercedes-AMG

fighter to sit within the

Genesis portfolio. It will be

created by the same team

that is delivering the much-

anticipated Hyundai N

performance models, but the

Genesis versions will not take

on the N branding.

Hyundai recently

iblin rivalr

Hundaiwill etitsown

vrin f h r r- riv K

as art of its soon-to-arrive

enes s luxur sub-brand.

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Lost in transmission

A tongue-in-cheek tweet by at Le Mans by

Ferrari North America PR rep Efrain Olivares

• perhaps still sore after the red cars were
  beaten by Ford, again – sparked a new buzz
  of people hastily trying to confirm a future
  Scuderia bid for outright glory in LMP1. “You

heard it here first: Townsend Bell confirms

Scuderia Corsa Ferrari LMP-1 program for

2017 during Le Mans press conference,”

Olivares tweeted. He was joking. Some

people realised too late, running with

the tweet as fact.