The new car draws heavily on the styling of the recently revealed Kia Koup concept and features a new, edgier look that’s expected to filter across to more models. It also debuts the carmaker’s new corporate grille design, which features a blacked out H-pattern with the Kia badge sitting centre. The man behind the stylish new lines is Kia’s recently appointed design chief Peter Schreyer, whose list of previous works include the iconic Audi TT and the Volkswagen New Beetle.

New coupe in the works
A Kia spokesman confirmed that Australian delivered models will receive slight styling changes and will be engineered to meet local conditions. The Forte will initially be available in a sedan body only but a new coupe model will eventually be offered, although the two-door is yet to be confirmed for the local market.

The new two-door will be Kia’s first ever coupe model and is expected to be launched overseas by the middle of next year. Its styling will be based heavily on the Koup concept and there could be a high-performance version complete with a turbocharged four-cylinder in the works.

High-performance flagship a possibility
The Koup concept car was powered by Kia’s 210kW Theta II turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine and included a new independent front suspension featuring MacPherson struts and an independent dual link rear set-up. The concept also featured an engine-speed-sensitive steering system and a set of active dampers.

The Forte sedan, meanwhile, will initially be offered with 1.6-litre or 2.0-litre petrol engines in naturally aspirated form. Australian versions will only come with the more powerful 2.0-litre engine, and will also be available with both manual and automatic transmissions.

The new Forte, along with the all-new Kia Soul, is designed to attract a younger target audience for Kia, and will also help the carmaker reach its goal of doubling its global sales tally by 2010 by offering customers a more upmarket and stylish range of models.  

Kia Forte sedan

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