A Bobaedream forum member has posted spy shots of a
mysterious prototype that was spotted near Kia’s premises in South Korea. It is
possible that this is the production Kia SP.
The prototype is an LHD vehicle, which is fine as
Kia could export the vehicle, as is the case with the Hyundai Creta. The grille, strangely reminiscent of a Geely model, is not rectangular like on
the Kia SP Concept. On the sides, the greenhouse is not as sleek, as the front
window is much bigger. However, styling changes are not unusual when a concept
moves to production. The rear-end looks similarly rakish, although it is
difficult to sketch out details.
Kia is running ahead of schedule with the SP
project. It plans to launch the premium B-SUV as its first model in India by
mid-2019 (May-August 2019) instead of September 2019. Its new plant in
Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh is coming up. Once fully ready, it will have an
annual production capacity of 300,000 units.
