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Kia to launch green vehicles by 2009

10/19/2007, 9:50 AM

By Drew Johnson

Kia has announced that it will launch a range of ultra-efficient vehicles in Europe beginning in 2009. The first Kia to receive the eco-treatment will be a version of the Ceed hatchback, based on the eco_cee’d concept shown at last month’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

Power for the new Ceed will come from a 1.6L CRDi diesel engine said to reduce CO2 emissions by 8.4%, achieved by reducing turbo boost pressure, enhancing fuel-injection timing and reducing friction between internals. The hatchback will also utilize several other green modifications, such as a lowered ride height, flat underbody protection, a low drag front grille and low rolling resistance tires. All together, the modification will improve fuel economy by 17%.

The new green cars are slated to hit the European market in the first half of 2009.

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10/19, 9:54 AM

posted by:

nowei

well, i guess i’ll have to wait and compare it against the arnage hybrid

10/19, 9:59 AM

posted by:

67_L-88

Please bring the diesel to North America.

10/19, 10:21 AM

posted by:

2008PowerStrokeF450Lariat

i see alot of these off base already here in germany, very nice looking cars

10/19, 10:31 AM

posted by:

autonut

This is a sign of maturity for Hyundai: parent company of Kia. And they are manufactured in Europe (almost Europe in Slovakia). Hyundai follows Japanese play book to a tee and it is a impressive manual to follow.

10/19, 10:37 AM

posted by:

kansei

The hatch is pretty sweet looking already, bring a turbodiesel here and I can finally delegate my Protege5 to track-only usage :) :)

10/19, 10:40 AM

posted by:

jonmiles

LOL @ nowei

10/19, 10:43 AM

posted by:

kansei

Of course I’m only talking about the 3-door model:

http://www.kia.at/web/MDB/media_folder/193_967_PRO_CEED_heck.jpg

(sorry if this is a dupe, I think it blocked my post before because I posted 4 links)

10/19, 10:54 AM

posted by:

F451

Hyundai/Kia: From piss ants to world players. Who would have imagined?

10/19, 10:56 AM

posted by:

LamborghiniZ

Bout time

10/19, 11:22 AM

posted by:

nowei

that pro ceed is a nice looking car… the wheels are off the hook.

10/19, 11:57 AM

posted by:

tripleonefive

I like the Hyundai’s and Kia’s. A friend of mine bought a new Optima andhe let me drive it. I was impressed loved it. The interior was well appointed and the engine had some kick to it.

My father rented a Sportage. He said it drove well and was nicely appointed but that it ate a lot of gas. Once they refine their engines they should be fine

The only thing I don’t understand is why Kia and Hyundai make the same vehicles. They are essentially competing with themselves. I think they should take Hyundai up market and leave the lower end cars and SUV CUV’s for Kia

10/19, 12:13 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

nowei: funny
1115: I agree.

I espacially like the Azera

10/19, 12:40 PM

posted by:

Commodore

I agree with 1115

10/19, 2:30 PM

posted by:

autonut

****ing love fest here! We all agree on a small Korean car but some of us (racists) still hate Japs. :)

10/19, 2:42 PM

posted by:

LamborghiniZ

ALERT. ALERT. First time Jackjim has every agreed with 1115. you too commodore. haha first time we’ve agreed on something.

10/19, 3:25 PM

posted by:

Impulsive

ALERT, ALERT … ‘Lambo’ is a retarded homo … watch your rear ends, he’s about to plug your orifice with his lipstick-sized appendage.

10/19, 3:47 PM

posted by:

SwerveEarly

Sweet! green vehicles coming out of a plant in Korea spewing out polution because it does not have to follow half of the enviromental protection rules that U.S and european plants have to.
Very Greeeeeeeen of them.

10/19, 4:11 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

lambo: i’ve agreed with 115 before.
Impulsive: You’re calling lambo teh pitcher, not the catcher?

10/19, 6:51 PM

posted by:

Impulsive

‘jjt’, he pitches to the wrong team AND catches for the wrong team. All the while, flaming like an inferno.

10/19, 10:29 PM

posted by:

golf4me

This is a great looking econo-hatch…but unfortunately HunKia is taking a page out of the Detroit playbook and not selling their nice stuff here…

10/20, 1:51 AM

posted by:

Commodore

I have agreed with 1115 before.

And please don’t play the race card…that should be used as a last resort and I don’t think (I hope you are not) that desperate. Do you even know what racism is? What I believe the Japanese “race” of cars are boring? Ohh, I am soo racist. Bring hate crime charges on me right now, hurry call the cops. And I can say the same for you – I dislike most Japanese cars, but 1115 dislikes EVERY American car. He even dislike the Corvette in a Corvette vs Toyota sportscar (oxymoron) comparison. He is THAT bias. Either way, you can make an argument that I am biased (although I don’t think I am) but bias is a long way from racism.

10/20, 12:19 PM

posted by:

tripleonefive

Commodore is not racist he just believes that Americans should prefer American cars over Japanese cars. Thats not racism thats just pure stupidity. Even though its proven that American cars are inferior he believes that Americans owe it to GM CHRYSLER FORD to buy them so that they dont have to more factories to Mexico. Although he drives german the rest of us americans should consider an american car so he doesnt believe in what he says. If he practiced what he preached then he would be driving american
I dislike inferior products and American seem to love making such products

10/20, 2:56 PM

posted by:

Commodore

1115, I appreciate that you understand I am not racist. However, I don’t appreciate you trying to explain to people what I think, what I “preach”, or anything about what I believe in. So let me explain the “patriotic car buyer” thing to you once and for all. When you call me a patriot in the future, I will just copy and paste what is below to remind you what I REALLY think.

I have brought up the idea of patriotism only once in all the time we have been debating the issue of presumed Japanese superiority and that was in a Pontiac Vibe thread. There, someone made a comment like “I would buy the Toy Matrix any day over the Vibe”. I challenged that person on their comment because the Vibe and Matrix are the same exact car; they drive the same, they look the same, they have the same fuel economy, the same quality and reliability, they are built in the same factory, everything about the two cars are the same. The only difference is one has a Toyota badge, and the other has a Pontiac badge. If you buy the Matrix, Toyota profits from that sale and takes the money to Japan while if you buy the Vibe, GM profits from that sale and takes the money to Detroit. There is NO other difference except the badge. To me, someone who buys the Toy is VERY biased and buys it just because of Toy’s reputation (which in this case is irrelevant). I made a comment calling such a person un-American because they are willingly giving their money to a foreign company instead of buying the same EXACT car and letting GM profit. I NEVER said anything like ‘you always need to buy American cars over Japanese cars because that’s the patriotic thing to do’. My statement about the Vibe applied ONLY to the Vibe vs Matrix issue, not to every American vs Japanese car. I believe that consumers should consider all competitive cars (so if you are buying a midsize car, you should consider the Aura and Fusion along with the Japanese, but not consider the Sebring because its FAR from competitive). Buy a car based on your preference, not based on whether it is from Japan or not. Is buying an American car good for our economy? Sure it is, but just like I don’t want people to buy a Japanese vehicle just because it is Japanese, I don’t want people to buy an American vehicle just because its American. I love my country and I am not insulted when you call me a patriot (should I be?), but my “patriotism” has nothing to do with my car purchases, which is why I drive a BMW rather than a Lincoln or Cadillac. I am buying a CTS very soon, but main reasons I am buying a CTS is because I love the design (especially the interior) and because the CTS is praised by EVERYONE – ‘best Cadillac in recent memory’. I am NOT buying it because it is American, although I am happy that the American auto industry have finally produced a luxury CAR that I am WANT to drive.

 
 
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