The world premiere for the all new Kia Ex_Cee'd Cabriole concept car

Introduction of the Kia Cee’d Sporty Wagon estate with extended tailgate

First European appearance for gasoline/electric Kia Rio Hybrid

Kia Motors Corporation unveiled three exciting vehicles at the Geneva automobile show on March 6, 2007 in Switzerland. One of Europe's most prestigious motor shows, Geneva was the perfect venue for the world premieres of the all new stylish Kia Cee'd Sporty Wagon, the Kia Ex_Cee’d cabriole concept, and the first ever appearance of the hi tech, half fuel, half electric Kia Rio Hybrid in Europe.

Kia Cee'd Sporty Wagon - Book a Cee'd test drive now!

Based on the new Kia Cee’d hatchback, with similar styling, the Kia Cee’d Sporty Wagon boasts an unusually long wheelbase, top of its class luggage and passenger space and for maximum accessibility boasts a unique extended tailgate to the luggage area. The total length of the Cee’d Wagon has been extended by 235mm behind the rear wheels. The total height has also been increased by 10mm. This huge amount of space makes it possible to carry up to 534 litres, 200 litres more than the Cee'd hatchback.

The Kia Cee’d Sporty Wagon is said to go on sale across Europe in September. It will boast state of the art safety features and high levels of standard equipment which ranks near the top of the competition. There will be three different models to choose from including the LX, TX and EX models, as well as four different manual and automatic engine variants.

As with all models in the new Cee'd range, the Sporty Wagon will come with a seven year, 10,000 mile, transferable power train warranty as standard.

The Kia Ex_Cee'd Cabriole Concept - Book a Cee'd test drive now!

With the designer of the Audi TT, Peter Schreyer behind its smooth curves, the Kia Ex_Cee’d soft top down looks to be something a little bit special. Based on Kia’s already sporty three door Hatch, the Ex_Cee’d boasts a complete external make over, with more aggressive panels, bumpers and a electric powered soft top, fabric roof.

Instead of following suit with most new cabrios, Kia have decided to stick with the traditional fabric roof opposed to the now widely used detachable hard top. The designer Peter Schreyer has made sure that Kia’s first ever soft top will be traditionally build with the features of a classic cabrio.

"I'm convinced that the fabric roof will have a renaissance and for me, it is the fabric roof that is the quintessential element of a truly rewarding cabrio," - Peter Schreyer.

Standing out from the crowd was the main aim of the design team who have installed unique 19 inch rims as standard, a smooth white and cream exterior and a chocolate coloured soft top. Combing that with aggressive body styling the Ex_Cee'd is going to make quite an impact in the sports car world.

Kia Rio Hybrid - Book a Rio test drive now!

In recent years Kia have shown that they are making massive steps forward in the hybrid vehicle market with huge expansions of their Korean facility for hybrid vehicles. At this years show in Geneva they proved this by introducing a hybrid fuel version of the already popular Kia Rio. As part of the countries on going efforts to creating eco-friendly cars, Kia and Hyundai have been commissioned to build 3,390 hybrid vehicles over the next two years for the Korean Ministry of the Environment.

Sometimes known as the Kia Pride, the Rio Hybrid sedan features a unique powertrain with a 1.4-litre, 90ps petrol engine combined with a 12kW, 95 Nm AC electric motor and adapted gearbox.

During pull offs, hill starts and climbs and general traffic idling, the electric motor is engaged to put less strain on the engine and therefore use less fuel. During normal driving and motorway driving the electric motor switches off. To recharge the power pack, the electric motor uses energy from braking and deceleration.

The hybrid Rio is the first Kia to use a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which switches between fuel and electric and also employs a computer controlled stop/start motoring system which switches both the fuel engine and electric motor off whenever the car comes to a complete standstill, in traffic for example, for more than a few seconds.

The Kia Rios weight has also been cut right down by 220kg by using special lightweight components. This was required to take the strain off the electric motor so it doesn’t overwork. This results of an impressive 0-60 in 12.2 seconds and a top speed of 111mph. The fuel consumption is also one of the best in its class due to the dual power engine using on average 53.4 mpg. Air pollution has also been cut by 37% and efficiency is improved by 44%.