2013 Kia Rio Lx Sedan 4-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Hyundai/Kia's Prius rival to arrive by 2017

The Toyota Prius is the undisputed king of the hybrid market, but Hyundai and Kia are hoping to challenge its reign in the coming years with their own dedicated model. However, in all likelihood this is the same technology being shared between them. "We will take the lead in the future by raising the competitiveness of our environment-friendly cars like hybrid-only cars, plug-in hybrid cars and fuel cell hydrogen cars," Hyundai Motor CEO Kim Choong-ho said to Reuters, during the launch of another vehicle in South Korea.
While Kim didn't say when the model would be ready, Autocar in Europe spoke to people at Kia, who said that the company's own hybrid was two years away and codenamed the DE. The initial vehicle is reportedly a five-door hatchback that's about 169-inches long, with more conventional styling than the Prius. Its powertrain is reportedly based around a 1.6-liter engine with electric assist. A plug-in version might follow later, and other bodystyles on the platform are possible. A recently spotted test mule might show the current state of development on the project (pictured above).
According to Reuters, the decision for the new vehicle comes in order to meet tighter emissions in some markets. However, it seems like a challenging move for the US market. Hyundai already sells its Tucson fuel cell in limited quantities and the Sonata hybrid, and Kia has the Optima hybrid and Soul EV. Industry analysts are also predicting that hybrids might have a hard time versus internal combustion engines in the coming years. In addition, Toyota is rumored to get fuel economy close to 60 miles per gallon for some versions of the next Prius. All of these factors make selling the models here a potentially difficult undertaking.

Sales incentive growth clustered around brands with few CUVs, trucks

While it's arguably been around the longest, the dominance of the four-door sedan has been under threat for many years. As a further sign of the hurtin' that SUVs and crossovers have put on today's four-doors, a new report from Automotive News points to the increasing use of incentives by brands reliant on cars and light on CUVs and pickups.
Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Kia have all been stung by double-digit increases in their incentives-to-transaction price ratio, according to AN, which cites data from TrueCar. Honda's ratio is up 14 percent, while Toyota, VW and Kia are up 18, 15 and 19 percent, respectively.
"Most of the incentive growth we have seen is in product segments with low demand - midsized or large sedans," TrueCar CEO John Krafcik told AN. "As this trend goes on, the brands with three-sedan strategies are going to be in worse shape on incentive spending than the crossover brands."

Nuclear deal could make Iran next big car market

Iran is a huge and hugely appealing target for Western firms - it's population is nearly the size of Germany's, it is well educated and includes a substantial middle class, and there is a built-in industrial capability. Because of the sanctions that have been in place for nearly five years now over its nuclear program, however, its citizens and domestic industry haven't been able to purchase and expand, so investment opportunities are not only manifold, they are severely undervalued. Most of the auto industry has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the Iranian game to start. A report in Automotive News says that Iran's two automakers, Iran Khodro and SAIPA - Societe Anonyme Iranienne de Production Automobile - produced one million light vehicles last year for 77.5 million people. According to Wikipedia there were 200 vehicles per 1,000 citizens in 2012, and that was before the industry took a nosedive. That number puts it between Uruguay and Jamaica. Chery, Kia, Peugeot, and Renault were the carmakers with major operations in-country before all but Chery pulled out. In the vacuum, Chery and other Chinese automakers have thrown lots of product at the market, getting 27 models in a range of segments built or supplied there, with results that are probably best described as ambivalent among observers but financially lucrative for the Chinese. Peugeot has re-established ties, and Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, and Volkswagen were attendees at the Iran Auto Show last November. The domestic companies say that this time they want local investment that includes technology transfer, so the Western carmakers that do decide to get in will find tougher negotiators than before. Peugeot, for instance, had a 51-49 partnership with Iran Khodro before pulling out; the new agreement is a 50-50 venture. As a 'gift' to the world for a final deal that encourages global investment, Bloomberg says that the price of crude would go down by $15 per barrel. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images Earnings/Financials Government/Legal Kia Peugeot Renault iran sanctions khodro