Photo: CarPix
With the new Sportage out of their system, the guys at Kia can now focus on their future subcompact crossover thingy they call Niro. And these latest spyshots prove that's exactly what they're doing.
Our little spy elves told us the car was undergoing cooling and braking tests while surfing the winding roads up and down the Alps. Apart from the fact it's pretty cold out there - as the snow in the pictures clearly shows -, an aspect that might interfere with the purpose of the tests, it makes perfect sense: lots of braking when going down, lots of revving (and thus chances to overheat) when going up. To make matters even worse, some images show that the Niro is actually pulling that little white Picanto you can see in the back.
Word on the street still is the Niro will launch solely as a hybrid first, with a plug-in version coming in later years. Dieselgate and all, we think it would be a bold move from Kia to skip on regular petrol and diesel engines, as no matter how hot small crossover are right now, the hybrid market is still limited.
Also, small crossovers tend to sell very well because they are affordable, and that's a trait hybrids rarely manage to fulfil. But who are we to question Kia's marketing department?
In terms of design, the Niro does not appear to rock any boats, looking just like a Kia model in this segment (not quite sure which one that is yet, though) should - tiger nose grille, headlights similar to those on the new Sportage, conventional overall shape and complete surprise for the rear.
Since the Niro is expected to slot above the Soul and below the Sportage in terms of size, its main competitors will most likely be the Peugeot 2008, the Renault Captur or even the smaller Mazda CX-3. There's also no word on whether it will have all-wheel drive as an option, but since it uses a hybrid powertrain, that could be easily resolved with the use of the electric motor.
A launch date hasn't been set yet, but we expect it to roll out sometime during next year, which would make it a 2017 model year. We'll keep you up to date as more information becomes available.
Word on the street still is the Niro will launch solely as a hybrid first, with a plug-in version coming in later years. Dieselgate and all, we think it would be a bold move from Kia to skip on regular petrol and diesel engines, as no matter how hot small crossover are right now, the hybrid market is still limited.
Also, small crossovers tend to sell very well because they are affordable, and that's a trait hybrids rarely manage to fulfil. But who are we to question Kia's marketing department?
In terms of design, the Niro does not appear to rock any boats, looking just like a Kia model in this segment (not quite sure which one that is yet, though) should - tiger nose grille, headlights similar to those on the new Sportage, conventional overall shape and complete surprise for the rear.
Since the Niro is expected to slot above the Soul and below the Sportage in terms of size, its main competitors will most likely be the Peugeot 2008, the Renault Captur or even the smaller Mazda CX-3. There's also no word on whether it will have all-wheel drive as an option, but since it uses a hybrid powertrain, that could be easily resolved with the use of the electric motor.
A launch date hasn't been set yet, but we expect it to roll out sometime during next year, which would make it a 2017 model year. We'll keep you up to date as more information becomes available.
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