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Kia Magentis set for sale

Kia is keeping mum about the new Magentis until its debut at the New York International Auto Show on April 2.

Kia is keeping mum about the Magentis - to the point of refusing to comment if it will be called by its international name Optima - but it's coming with a more powerful 150kW/245Nm 2.4-litre direct-injection four-cylinder petrol engine.

The Korean has shown previously that it is prepared to accommodate alternative engines, which may spring the 2-litre R-Series turbo-diesel onto this market and may even debut with a DSG-style semi-automatic transmission.

The Magentis/Optima with the 2.4-litre engine will have a conventional six-speed automatic and sit on an extended wheelbase to boost cabin room. It is longer, lower and wider than the previous model and sits on a significantly longer wheelbase.

Kia Australia spokesperson Alyson MacDonald said the specifications and final pricing - and even the name - would not be announced until closer to the launch date. The new sedan makes its global debut at the New York International Auto Show on April 2.

Designed by Peter Schreyer and wearing the family face adopted by Sorento, Cerato and Soul, the sedan is touted as having a fresh shape to ‘embody a bold, athletic and sporty visual energy’.

Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist
GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail. He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out. In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working for GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups. He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally. He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.
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