A long-roof version of Kia’s Cerato replacement has been caught testing in Europe, but after fewer than 3500 traditional wagons were sold here last year, it won’t come to Australia.
Kia will buck the trend of rival brands departing the wagon market when it launches a more practical version of its new K4 small car – the replacement for Australia’s Cerato – in Europe later this year or sometime next year.
Australia will not be on the list for the K4 wagon, after just over 3300 new examples of the body type were sold locally last year – a record low.
It is despite the fact that the new wagon will be built in the same Mexico factory as the hatch and sedan offered in Australia, likely in right-hand drive.
The K4 wagon will replace an equivalent version of the Kia Ceed in Europe – a sibling of the departed Cerato sold in Australia – and will rival models such as the Skoda Octavia, the top-selling wagon in Australia.
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“Our marketplace is very SUV [focused], and it makes it difficult to justify the business case,” Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told Drive.
“I can go back in time to when Corolla wagons were sold in big numbers to the likes of Coca-Cola Amatil. And that red Corolla wagon, you’d see plenty of them on the road.
“But Toyota did a great sales pitch to Coke, pushing them into RAV4s and saying that you don’t have to bend over when you’re carrying heavy loads and loading up the boot – and the market hasn’t looked back since.
“I think if you dissect VFACTS [industry sales data], passenger wagon is very low.”
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Prototypes seen testing in Europe appear to share their footprint and doors with the K4 hatchback and sedan to save cost, but graft on more sheetmetal behind the rear wheels to increase boot space.
Europe is only expected to offer hatch and wagon versions of the K4, whereas Australia and the US get hatch and sedan body styles.
It remains to be seen if the K4 wagon uses the same 2.0-litre non-turbo and 1.6-litre turbo petrol engines as Australian sedans, or coincides with the introduction of hybrid power to meet tough European emissions rules.
The closest vehicle to a station wagon Kia Australia has offered was the Rondo, a small people mover based on the Cerato hatch, discontinued in 2018.
The post Kia commits to station wagons in Europe, but Australia to miss out appeared first on Drive.
