Paris 2016: All-new Kia Rio hatchback makes world debut

Kia has debuted the all-new Rio hatchback at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. It is longer, wider as compared to its predecessor and features a new exterior as well as an updated interior.  

Overall, the all-new Rio’s exterior is characterized by straight lines which makes the vehicle look more composed. Up front, it is fitted with the brand’s revamped tiger nose grille as well as a restyled bumper, a wider grille, and new headlights with U-shaped LED daytime running lights. The rear, on the other hand, gets sharper-looking wraparound taillights and a larger bumper.

Aside from the new exterior design, the 4th gen Rio hatchback grew in size. It is 15 mm longer, 5 mm wider, and has a 10 mm longer wheelbase. With this, Kia says the Rio offers the “most spacious” cabin in its class. To put things in perspective, the Rio’s competition in the local market are the Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, among others.    

The Rio features a driver-oriented interior as seen through the layout of its dashboard wherein it is angled towards the driver. It also gets a new infotainment system which offers both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration. Kia added that the all-new Rio will be the first in its class to offer Autonomous Braking with pedestrian recognition safety feature.

Kia remains secretive in regards to the powertrain details of the 4th Rio. However, the Korean automaker did say that the Rio will be powered by a range of gasoline and diesel engines which includes the new 3-cylinder 1.0L T-GDI (turbo gasoline direct injection) engine.    

As previously reported, we have yet to hear from Kia Philippines as to when would they locally launch the all-new Rio.     

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