Kia may implement all-wheel drive systems in the
Optima, Sedona, and Niro, Kia Motors America’s vice president of Planning and
Strategy says. Speaking with Car Buzz at the New York Auto Show, Orth Hedrick
said the South Korean automaker is actively studying all-wheel drive options
for the three vehicles.
Adding all-wheel drive to these
models won’t be as easy as dropping in a rear differential. Instead, all-wheel
drive Sedona and Optima models would need entirely new platforms meaning they
won’t see the light of day in the vehicles current generations.
Despite the Niro being a crossover, Kia decided
against launching it with all-wheel drive because it wanted to “do something
different” and “the link between CUV and all-wheel drive wasn’t quite there
yet.”
