Kia has brought the 2020 K3 to the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show, offering a first official glimpse of
its exterior styling and powertrains aimed specifically at the local market. Designed, developed and made in
China by the Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors (DYK) joint venture, it’s the latest
version of the mid-size sedan and will go on sale in the second quarter of the
year.
Customers will get to choose between two gasoline
engines, a 1.5-liter said to offer “best-in-class fuel efficiency” and a
1.4-liter turbo, as well as a new plug-in hybrid powertrain. Kia has not
released any specifications just yet, so we guess it’ll probably announce them
close to the car’s on-sale date.
Visually, the 2020 K3 sports a unique light
signature in the headlamps and tail lamps. More importantly, though, it has a
grille with vertical slats that, if you squint hard, could look similar to that
of certain Maserati models. The PHEV version adds ‘ECO plug-in’ badges on the
outside and a special function for the infotainment system that allows users to
search for recharging locations nearby.
Aside from the new K3 models, DYK also has the new
China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) competitor on display in Shanghai, which
will enter the competition this year. Additionally, the Imagine by Kia Concept,
which was presented in Geneva last month, makes its local debut.
Finally, the Korean brand has a range of
technologies on display, too, which look at the post-autonomous driving era.
The Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving (R.E.A.D.) system, which promises to
“improve the human mobility experience”, is one of them. It works by optimizing
and personalizing the cabin by analyzing the driver’s emotional state using
AI-based bio-signal recognition, tailoring the cockpit accordingly.
