Kia seeks splash in sedan market with new K5

Kia Motors CEO Park Han-woo, third from left, poses with the new K5 midsize sedan during its launch event at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Thursday. Courtesy of Kia Motors

By Nam Hyun-woo

Kia Motors rolled out the new K5 midsize sedan, Thursday, throwing a strong challenge to its rivals with its aggressive look, new driver assist features and connectivity technologies.

“Due to the global popularity of recreational vehicles, we were concerned that sedans, including the K5, may be forgotten by customers,” Kia Motors CEO Park Han-woo said during a launch event at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul hotel. “We tried to create a car with a strong impression so it can never be forgotten.”

The third-generation K5 is a fully changed model after four and a half years. More than 16,000 customers have placed orders since beginning pre-orders Nov. 21, with customers in their 20s and 30s accounting for 53 percent.

The overall exterior is focused on expressing sportiness. Measuring 4,905 millimeters long and 1,869 millimeters wide, the new K5 is 50 millimeters longer and 25 millimeters wider, with its overhang shorter and the wheelbase longer too.

It also showcases a more low-slung profile by lowering the height by 20 millimeters and incorporating a short deck lid, which created a draping fastback roofline.

Highlighting the exterior is the grille, which is vertically shorter but horizontally wider than its predecessor. With the matt black grille and slit-eyed headlamp, the overall look of the new K5 is reminiscent of a wild shark.

Inside the vehicle is a display of pragmatism, with center fascia buttons and panels decorated with wood panels and black high gloss paint. To appeal to its young customers and those who love sportiness, the sedan also provides features such as paddle shift and D-cut steering wheel.

Drawing keen interests on the new K5 was a voice command system, powered by “Kakao I” technology jointly developed with mobile technology giant Kakao. Unlike existing in-vehicle voice command systems, which mostly understands direct commands such as “turn on the air conditioner,” the new system can understand more indirect commands such as “keep the air warm.”

When tested during a test drive session, the voice command system was not as fast as expected, but could successfully carry out relatively difficult commands, such as “show me trending search words.”

The new K5 also offered interesting features, including a car-to-home connectivity technology, which allows the driver to control devices in his or her home from the car, as well as vehicle location sharing.

The new K5 comes in four powertrains ― gasoline 2.0, gasoline 1.6 turbo, LPG 2.0 and hybrid 2.0.

The gasoline 2.0 model creates up to 160 horsepower and 20 kilogram force-meter torque, and the turbocharged model yields maximum 180 horsepower and 27 kilogram force-meter torque. The LPG model generates 146 horsepower and 19.5 kilogram force-meter torque and the hybrid model produces 152 horsepower and 19.2 kilogram-force meter. The hybrid model's fuel economy reaches 20.1 kilometer per liter.

During the test drive, reporters tested the turbocharged model. It offered balanced ride comfort, a spacious cabin and entertaining experience by the voice command, but the excessive engine noise on higher revolution sometimes came as a disturbing moment.

The new K5 price starts from 23.51 million won and climbs up to 33.35 million won. Kia Motors said it plans to retail 70,000 vehicles by the end of next year.