If you wanted a rear-wheel drive mainstream sedan in the past, your choices in the past were. Today, that isn’t the case as much. Most mid- and full-size cars are front-wheel drive. Things are a bit different in the luxury segment, but even there many manufactures like Audi, Acura and Lincoln use front-wheel drive platforms as a basis. Thankfully, all-wheel drive has come into play as a strong force.
If you really want a more mainstream RWD sedan though, the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger are pretty much your only options. Thus, when Hyundai developed its rear-wheel drive platform it created a lot of goodwill with enthusiasts. And not only was it RWD, on the sedan there is a V-8 option. Kia, which has a bolder, more performance-oriented mission than Hyundai, hasn’t used the platform yet.
That is about to change this year though – and Kia just released a few sketches of its RWD, V-8 flagship. The previous sentence is all the proof you need that Kia is on a roll.
The car was previewed by the Kia GT Concept, and there is a lot of strong influences from that car. Up front there are large, all-LED headlights and the entire design sports Kia’s bold design that we love. The hard edges and highly modern surfacing has worked really well on models like the Optima and Sportage. Based on these sketches, the new “KH” sedan looks like a home run.
It promises to be one of the most exciting introductions of this year. What we’re wondering right now is where Kia is going to price it. Is it going to be priced lower than the Genesis, going up against cars like the 300? Or, will it work to have more of a performance edge than the Genesis? These are all questions we’re looking forward to seeing Kia answer. Stay tuned.
