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The successor to the Kia Cerato small car will be unveiled next week as a sedan – wearing a new name – with a hatch likely to follow.
The 2025 Kia K4 – the replacement for the Kia Cerato small car– has been teased ahead of its unveiling next week.
As first reported by Drive, a consolidation of Kia’s small-car range amid the growth in SUV sales will see one K4 range sold in global markets, first as a sedan – with a hatch likely to follow.
It will mark the end of the road for the Cerato badge in Australia, wearing which more than 187,000 hatchbacks, sedans and coupes have been sold by Kia Australia since the name’s 2004 introduction – more than any other model in the company’s line-up.
Due to be unveiled next week is the K4 sedan, which is expected to be built in Mexico – rather than South Korea – for countries such as Australia, as well as North America, where sedans remain popular.
Australian arrival dates are yet to be announced, however the timing of the reveal suggests the first sedans could be in local showrooms by the end of this year.
Given the K4 is also tipped to replace the Ceed in Europe – where hatchbacks and wagons are popular – a five-door hatchback version of the new range is likely to follow at a later date.
All new Kia passenger cars – sedans and hatchbacks – will wear ‘K’ badges internationally, following the Rio-replacing K3 unveiled in Mexico last year, and the Optima-replacing K5 on sale since 2020, though neither is available in Australia.
Australia’s Kia Cerato has long been sold under different badges overseas, the latest model branded Forte in North America and, confusingly, K3 in South Korea and China.
Spy photos suggest the new K4 sedan will undergo a growth spurt, likely to be twinned with the latest Hyundai i30 Sedan, which is 70mm longer bumper to bumper than the current Kia Cerato sedan.
It could see the introduction of hybrid power for the first time, alongside the i30 Sedan’s 2.0-litre non-turbo and 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines.
Kia says the “full design” of the new 2025 Kia K4 will be revealed on 21 March 2024, before it makes its formal debut – with further specifications – on 27 March 2024 at the New York motor show.
The K4 sedan has been photographed testing in the US, South Korea, Europe and, recently, Australia.
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