This is the 2014 Kia Forte or as some of you may know it, the Kia Cerato or K3, depending on the market. The K3 is the car’s name in its home market South Korea where the model got its official unveiling earlier this week, while next year it will be launched in the United States and Canada as the Forte (2014MY) while in other markets like Europe, Brazil and Australia it will wear the Cerato moniker. The vehicle is 4,560mm long, 1,780mm wide and is 1,435mm tall, with a 2,700mm wheelbase which is 51mm longer than before so we should expect more legroom for the passengers. It’s also 30mm longer, 5mm wider and 25mm lower than the previous model, meaning that the interior cabin should be more spacious.
The Kia K3 will be available in Korea at first with a 4-cylinder 1.6-liter gasoline engine that pumps out 138 hp and a peak torque of 123 lb-ft. With this engine the car is capable of returning 32.9 mpg US (39.5 mpg UK or 7.1 liters / 100 km). We don’t know at this point which engines will the Forte and Cerato get when they go on sale next year.
It is important to mention that the four-door sedan variant will be joined later on by a two-door coupe and a five-door hatchback. Chances are that these two variants will not be sold in Europe in order to avoid conflicting with the all-new Cee’d which is available as a hatchback, estate and a three-door coupe. For its first year on the market Kia plans on selling approximately 410,000 units while by 2014 they plan on delivering more than 500,000 units annually of this model.
