New photos of the Kia KX7 SUV. The K7 is the new flagship SUV for Kia in China, it will hit the Chinese car market in March.
The Kia KX7 is based on the current third generation
Kia Sorento. The Sorento is imported into China from South Korea which makes it
a bit more expensive than offerings from the competition. Not much more
expensive because South Korea and China have a sweet little trade deal that
eliminates most import taxes on cars. Nevertheless, Kia thought it wiser to
shift to local production.
The KX7 will be made in China by the Dongfeng-Yueda-Kia joint venture. It will get
exactly the same engines as the Sorento, both mated to a six-speed manual or a
six-speed automatic. The high end models will be 4WD. Price will start just
above 200.000 yuan and end around 300.000 yuan.
The new grille makes the KX7 look a bit younger
again but it is really a rather old car.
The Kia KX7 so seems to be a somewhat cynical
marketing exercise; patching up an old car and dump it into China. May
automakers have been doing this and it worked well when the market was red hot
and consumers bought everything they could get their hands on. But the market
has since slowed down and consumers are much better informed and extremely much
more critical of what they buy. I think the KX7 is going to be a hard sell, but
they might be able to unload some diesels down country.
