기아의 새 BMW 3-series 파이터는 노보 컨셉트?

  

  최근의 기아차 주가가 경기 침체와 자동차 업계의 부정적인 전망으로 많이 빠졌지만, 현대차 및 기아차의 제품 경쟁력은 지속적으로 상승하고 있다고 본다. 물론 경쟁 기업들의 제품 경쟁력이 상승하고는 있지만, 국제 제품의 각축장인 미국 시장을 모니터링 해 보면 현대차 및 기아차에 대한 평가는 점점 괜찮아지고 있다.

  현대차보다 좀 덜 알려진 기아차의 브랜드 때문에 오히려 고급 브랜드 접근성이 좋다는 평가도 있다. 기아차에서 제기한 노보 컨셉트는 BMW 3-series를 타겟으로 한 소형 럭셔리 세단의 컨셉트 카인데, 만일 이 세그먼트에서 괜찮은 시장 반응이 나온다면 현대보다는 기아가 빠를 수도 있지 않을까?

Get a Roundel in a Kia? Korean Automaker to Take on BMW 3-series

We noted last year that Kia’s Novo concept (pictured above) could presage the brand’s entry into the four-door-coupe segment. At the time, we suggested that the car “could give the Mazda 3 and the Volkswagen Golf a real run for their money among style-minded customers.” But it looks as though Kia’s aiming beyond the Mazda 3 with its next foray into a new arena. Its sights are set onBMW’s venerable 3-series.

According to a report in Automotive News, a new sedan, code-named “CK,” is slated for production in May of 2017, meaning we’ll likely see a near-production or full-on production version this fall on the auto-show circuit, perhaps either at Paris or Los Angeles. The L.A. show would make sense, given that it’s practically the BMW’s natural habitat, and Southern California is Kia’s U.S. home.

Like the 3, the Kia will be rear-drive, making it the second RWD machine produced by the company after the rather coolly received K900 luxobarge. With Hyundai’s Genesis brand aiming for the luxosphere, Kia sees sporty style as the way forward. Allegedly, the new sports sedan will offer 2.0-, 2.2-, and 3.0-liter powerplants, presumably putting it roughly in line with BMW’s non-M models in terms of power output.

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Kia is said to be targeting a volume of 60,000 examples a year, moving some Rio production to Mexico to make room for South Korean production of the new entry. Success, of course, depends on price, style, and did we mention price? Kia has done much over the past decade to shed its bargain-basement image, but taking on the 3-series is a bold move that demands a combination of attributes that nobody’s yet been able to pull together, even as BMW has been removing the attributes that once made its sports sedan a perennial 10Best Cars winner.