Photo: Kia
Remember the Venga? It’s been around for a long time now, and as demand for crossover gains momentum, the Venga is on its way out to make room for the Stonic. Then there’s the Rio, which in comparison to the mini-MPV, is one of the segment’s most value-minded hatchbacks.
In addition to the badge, the Rio and Venga share the 1.4-liter CRDi. And Kia is finding increasingly hard to justify this engine option in Europe because of the general dislike for diesel following the Dieselgate scandal.
The situation is even worse in the United Kingdom, with the automaker announcing that it “will remove diesel variants of the Rio and Venga from its UK lineup once existing stock sells out.” Autocar reports that “no new examples of either diesel cars have been ordered for Britain” for 2018.
A spokesman told the British publication pinned the discontinuation on sales volume, with diesel representing 20 and 19 percent of Rio and Venga sales in the Albion. More to the point, that’s 1,673 of 8,470 Rio models and 1,172 of 6,130 models of the Venga sold in Britain in the past year.
The decision to cancel the 1.4-liter CRDi for these two also has something to do with the Autumn Budget. Through it, the British Government introduced new tax penalties for diesel cars that don’t comply with the RDE type 2 standard. Simply put, Great Britain penalizes drivers of cars made in 2018 that don’t conform to a regulation that should go into effect in 2020.
Diesel isn’t going anywhere, though, for Kia acknowledges its proportion in overall sales. Bigger passenger cars such as the Optima and crossover utility vehicles such as the Sorento are more frugal and better to drive when fitted with turbo diesel engines, so that’s that regarding this subject.
In the long run, hybridization and electrification are Kia’s biggest priorities for the European market. No less than 16 electrified vehicles have been confirmed to go official by 2025 at the world premiere of the Niro EV Concept, with Kia leveraging the technology from sister brand Hyundai.
The situation is even worse in the United Kingdom, with the automaker announcing that it “will remove diesel variants of the Rio and Venga from its UK lineup once existing stock sells out.” Autocar reports that “no new examples of either diesel cars have been ordered for Britain” for 2018.
A spokesman told the British publication pinned the discontinuation on sales volume, with diesel representing 20 and 19 percent of Rio and Venga sales in the Albion. More to the point, that’s 1,673 of 8,470 Rio models and 1,172 of 6,130 models of the Venga sold in Britain in the past year.
The decision to cancel the 1.4-liter CRDi for these two also has something to do with the Autumn Budget. Through it, the British Government introduced new tax penalties for diesel cars that don’t comply with the RDE type 2 standard. Simply put, Great Britain penalizes drivers of cars made in 2018 that don’t conform to a regulation that should go into effect in 2020.
Diesel isn’t going anywhere, though, for Kia acknowledges its proportion in overall sales. Bigger passenger cars such as the Optima and crossover utility vehicles such as the Sorento are more frugal and better to drive when fitted with turbo diesel engines, so that’s that regarding this subject.
In the long run, hybridization and electrification are Kia’s biggest priorities for the European market. No less than 16 electrified vehicles have been confirmed to go official by 2025 at the world premiere of the Niro EV Concept, with Kia leveraging the technology from sister brand Hyundai.
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