Kia unveils Horki sub-brand in China, kicks off with concept car

Wed, 24 Apr 2013

While we were busy ogling new vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz GLA Concept, Maserati Ghibli and Hongqi L9 at the Shanghai Motor Show, Kia was busy unveiling an entire brand. Through its Chinese joint venture, Dongfeng Yueda Kia (or DYK), the South Korean automaker has introduced its new Horki sub-brand and a concept car, simply called the Horki Concept.

The name Horki comes from the combination of two Chinese characters "Hor" and "Ki," which translates to "China driving." As this suggests, the brand will only be offered in China, and this concept sedan shares its platform with the 2014 Kia Forte. We didn't happen to catch the car live at the auto show, and apparently neither did Kia, since it only provided us with some drawings rather than live (or even studio) shots of the actual concept car. Thankfully, our friends at Newspress managed to ferret it out, so we have a couple of live pics to share after all.

Concept Car Heralds New Local Brand for Kia's Chinese Joint Venture Operations

[20-Apr-2013] Kia Motors Corporation's joint venture in China, Dongfeng Yueda Kia (DYK), has unveiled a new Chinese-market concept and a new local brand name at the Shanghai Motor Show.

Unveiled on the joint venture's show stand, DYK has announced the new brand will be called "Horki" which combines two Chinese characters, "Hor" signifying China and "Ki" signifying driving. Together the word suggests harmony and driving. The brand also revealed a China-market only concept which is based on Kia's all-new Cerato (Forte) platform.

By Jeffrey N. Ross