KIA Rio – A solid contender and threat to Suzuki Swift

By Saad Ikram On Mar 17, 2018

After so many spotting of KIA cars here in Pakistan the last few months, I guess everyone would be as excited as I am to see these cars launch here. Over the past few months, the majority of the spottings were of the KIA Sportage which is rumoured to launch next month. This time the all-new KIA Rio has been spotted.

Fresh images of the KIA Rio started surfacing social media, which could very well be a test mule but it was not camouflaged. Last time the KIA Rio was spotted near Hyderabad in October 2017.

KIA Rio is a subcompact hatchback, which is quite popular in the European market. Here in Pakistan if it sees the light of day it will be a direct competitor of the Suzuki Swift. Though we do have FAW V2 as a contender for the Suzuki Swift, but it is not a strong one. Dimensions wise the KIA Rio is a little bigger than the Suzuki Swift. Rio is 4065mm x 1725mm x 1460mm (length x width x height) whereas local Suzuki Swift measures at 3755mm x 1690mm x 1525mm (length x width x height). The wheelbase of Rio and Swift measure at 2580mm and 2390mm respectively. If the KIA RIO is launched it will be a very strong contender and it will all come down to the price of these vehicles as there is a high chance that it will not feature latest goodies like smart entry with push-start, climate control, cruise control and many other features.

Also Check: Kia cars spotted once again, see new photos here

Internationally the car comes with two engine options at 1.4-liter and a 1.2-liter petrol engine mated to either a 4-speed automatic, a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed manual transmission. Here is a list of the features that are offered in the international model: