Kia's will have at least two new tricks at the Paris Motor Show, one of them being the Kia Soul. The other will be a Kia cee'd gas-electric hybrid. Already available in coupe, 5-door hatch, and sportwagon variants, a hybrid addition based on the five-door would be a perfect addition to the line. So far, the only details we have is that the c'ee hybrid isn't planned for sale until 2010, when it will join a train of new hybrids from other makers. Kia apparently decided that is when they'll be able to sell enough of them to make a profit. But we will get the complete scoop on it at next week's Paris Motor Show, so you won't have to wait that long.
[Source: Kia World]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Torrent @ Sep 23rd 2008 7:37PM
the Cee'd's need to do America a good dee'd and come here.
jte @ Sep 23rd 2008 8:31PM
Isn't it almost sorta here already, but a foot longer as the Hyundai Elantra Touring.
ugg.tryptophan @ Sep 23rd 2008 7:38PM
should sell well, but i dont like it
P.V. @ Sep 23rd 2008 7:56PM
Isn't this essentially the Spectra5 (US)?
A Spectra5 hybrid would be great here.
Dazza @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:07PM
PV - no, it isn't. The Spectra was sold elsewhere as the Cerato, which the c'eed (a far, far superior car) replaced.
Xander @ Sep 23rd 2008 8:30PM
Why only the sedan as a hybrid? I'm sorry but wouldn't it make sense to be a little different and offer the two door or wagon unlike Honda, Toyota and who knows who else?
It just gets anoying when so many models I would jump at are only available as a sedan when a hatch or wagon make so much more room available in a small car with little or no hit in weight or MPG figures.
jte @ Sep 23rd 2008 8:53PM
Right on, if only Honda made a Civic 5 door to compete with the Matrix. (Not the smaller Fit)
Also bring back the Accord and Camry wagons! Just not as crossovers.
No Welfare for GM @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:27PM
So Kia, a cheap Korean company, that makes Rios is will be 2 years behind GM in hybrid tech.
cj @ Sep 24th 2008 1:15PM
I wouldn't say two yrs cuz Hyundai/kia have already developed hybrids and they are being tested by governmental use in Kor. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Elantra hybrid is going to go on sale soon.
On the other hand... GM... with the size and how well it was doing before, they should have already perfected hybrid and other greener tech instead of building more SUVs for profitablity, which came back and bit them in their ass in the end.
cameron42985 @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:04PM
C'mon Hyundai.
Give us something funky. GM has less conventional style. GM!
tekdemon @ Sep 24th 2008 6:19AM
So if it comes out in 2010 that means Hyundai's hybrid technology is currently 13 years behind Toyota's.
Going by this metric Ford actually did a pretty great job getting the hybrid escape on the market by 2004, even if it meant using such a similar system that they had to license the patents from Toyota. But that's actually looking like a pretty smart decision since wasting your time trying to come up with hybrids that don't violate any Toyota patents is like trying to invent a wheel while refusing to use circles.
I honestly think what's needed is a supplier of cutting edge hybrid powertrains that can be bolted on to almost any system. Like if Borg Warner made integrated hybrid transmissions or something, then every car company could just source it and voila, hybridtastic. Honestly if you had a few billion lying around it wouldn't be a bad idea to start a hybrid powertrain supplier company.
Kitko @ Sep 24th 2008 9:48AM
Speaking of Ceed.... Do you know which country is the largest per-capita manufacturer in the world?
The Ceed is currently manufactured only in SlovaKIA (geddit?) and really sells like hotcakes in Europe.
Thanks to that (and VW and PSA sales) Slovakia has become the largest car manufacturer in the world - per capita. 571,071 cars in 2007 makes up for 105.7 cars per 1000 people. 2008 numbers indicate 25% increase in production. With hybrids on the assembly lines....
BTW, the US would have to manufacture 2,887,776 cars per 1000 inhabitants to top Slovakia :-) That would be almost 2.9 billion cars a year.
Andrew @ Sep 24th 2008 4:08PM
Don't worry, the manufacturing will move from Slovakia to the next cheap country sooner than later. No offense to Slovakia, but the production cost is what made them produce there.
I'm thinking Belarus or possibly the Ukraine will be the next hot destination.