What's all this about?
Kia is going to reveal its all-new Optima at the New York Show on 1st of April.
Excellent, so tell me all about the design, specs and prices.
Umm... we can't. Kia has been extremely brief with this announcement, merely furnishing us with a few design sketches and the statement that the Optima has been 'passionately designed and obsessively crafted'. It's an important car for the Koreans in the States, of course, as it has been the company's best-selling vehicle there for three years running.
So you can't really tell me anything more about it yet?
Well, it will be based on a Hyundai i40 chassis and will probably utilise some form of the 1.7-litre CRDi engine, as seen in the current Optima. There's likely also to be a mild hybrid version, if the Optima T-Hybrid shown at in Paris last year is anything to go by. And, if you want a better idea of the looks than these drawings show, take a peek at the Sportspace concept Kia debuted in Geneva; that heavily previews many of the design features of the Optima.
Matt Robinson - 19 Mar 2015