Since its premieres at Geneva, New York, and Frankfurt, the all new
Kia Pride (Rio) UB really throws a curve to the compact car buyers thanks to its distinctive design Peter Schreyer penned it to make it more recognizable and saucy indeed in today's market.
The Pride naming dates back in the year 1986 as a three-door hatchback following with the 5-door version in 1988 and a 4-door sedan (the Kia Pride Beta) in 1990. It was later discontinued in 1994 to give way to the Kia Avella, which was discontinued in 1999 to give way to the Kia Rio. However, in the summer of 2005, the Pride naming returned as the Korean version of the second-generation Kia Rio JB and it was available in sedan and hatchback forms.
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| 2012 Kia Pride |
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| 2012 Kia Pride Hatchback |
While this new model used the base Hyundai Accent RB as its foundation, the all new, 2012 Kia Pride/Rio UB was a different kind of Korean compact car, using its odds to beat the likelihood of the
Hyundai Accent RB,
Ford Fiesta, and
Chevrolet Aveo/
Sonic. The front end can be somewhat rounder than the previous model but with some swooping details because of the trademark "Tiger Nose" grille, which became the center of Kia Motors. It was available in either the 4-door and 5-door hatchback so there are choices to consider for the customers.
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| 2012 Kia Pride interior |
The new interior is well-sculpted and well-mannered because of the high-grade finishing materials but it lacks character rather than the Hyundai Accent RB's interior, which has the finest luxury features equipped for their own conveniences. What surprises them is the supervision cluster with a clear back-lit trip computer mounted in the middle, which provides real time information such as distance to empty and optimum fuel consumption. Looks somewhat interesting because that supervision cluster reminds us of that feature we found at the Kia Sportage R. For the Kia Pride Hatchback, there is a 60:40 split folding rear seat to provide plenty of flexibility when carrying loads of baggage.
The main transmission available is a 6-speed automatic transmission with the manual + automatic gate for a smoother driving and the new Pride has two engine types available such as the Gamma 1.4 MPI engine and the Gamma 1.6 GDi engine, both were sourced from the Hyundai Accent RB. The Gamma 1.4 MPI engine is an all new engine that provides 108ps of power, 13.9kg-m of torque, and 16.1km/L of fuel economy while keeping low emissions. The high-performance Gamma 1.6 GDi engine provides 140ps of power, 17.0kg-m of torque, and 16.7km/L of fuel economy. The Pride Eco Plus variant features an idling stop function that can automatically shut off the Gamma 1.6 GDi engine when stopped, providing optimum fuel consumption and lower emissions for a cleaner driving no matter what.
The All New Pride offers a host of safety features such as Cruise Control, Hill Ascend Control, six airbags, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Emergency Signal System, Rear Camera, and back warning system for convenient parallel parking.
Both the All New Kia Pride sedan and hatchback are available in 10 color variations such as Bright Silver, Formal Deep Blue, Electronic Blue, Wendy Brown, Fresh Beige, White, Black, Platinum Graphite, and Signal Red.
My comment:
Of course, we know all about the All New Pride since its world premiere in Geneva, New York, and Frankfurt. We were going to see this new model on the new Korean drama, Poseidon, but does the new Pride got what it takes to win the hearts of many customers who were shying away from the
Mazda Demio, Hyundai Accent RB,
Toyota Belta,
Toyota Vitz, and the Chevrolet Aveo/Sonic? With its seamless design, intuitive performance, and impressive packaging, no wonder that this new model won the Automotive Brand Contest 2011 Best of Best.
One question is, can the new Kia Pride be available in the Philippines as the new Rio like the rest of the world does? See if we care...
Photo: Kia Motors
