Kia bringing updated Rio to Paris

Kia will celebrate the world premiere of an enhanced Kia Rio at the 2014 Paris Motor Show on the 2^nd of October, featuring a number of improvements to maintain the competitiveness of its global best-selling car.

"The Kia Rio was our best-selling vehicle nameplate worldwide in 2013, with a total of 471,000 sales. Improvements to this model are of major significance for our brand," commented Michael Cole, Chief Operating Officer, Kia Motors Europe.

Under the direction of Peter Schreyer, President and Chief Design Officer of Kia Motors Corporation and Hyundai Motor Group, the Rio design team in Korea has updated the Rio's 'tiger-nose grille' and given the car a newly-designed front bumper and fog lights.

Three new alloy wheel designs (available in 15, 16 and 17-inch) refresh the Rio's profile and a new rear bumper completes the exterior makeover. In addition, two new paint finishes (Urban Blue and Digital Yellow) will be added to the colour lineup.

The Rio's cabin is brightened by the addition of chrome accents around the four dashboard air-vents, and the fitting of a newly-designed centre-stack around the audio system. Range-topping EX models have a new cloth trim as standard, while Kia is introducing the option of grey faux leather upholstery on this model.

Depending on individual markets, the enhanced Rio will be offered in Europe with a choice of up to four highly efficient engines - ranging in power output from 75bhp to 109bhp - driving the front wheels via five or six-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmissions. Every engine in the enhanced Rio range is available with Kia's optional second generation fuel-stretching Start/Stop (ISG) technology.

The Kia Rio hatchback is manufactured for Europe at Kia's Sohari plant in Korea. The enhanced Kia Rio is expected to go on sale across Europe early in 2015, with country-by-country availability to be decided locally.