Kia Cadenza for UK in 2016
The Kia Cadenza, the company's BMW 3 Series rival, could make it to UK showrooms
The next generation Kia Cadenza, also called the Kia K7, could arrive in the UK in right-hand drive in 2016.
Vice-president of overseas marketing Soon-Nam Lee told Auto Express: “We’re putting 1,000 current Cadenzas into the Western European market for consideration. There are no plans for a right-hand-drive version, but we’re talking to distributors in Asia, Australia, the UK and South Africa to see how much we could sell a next-generation Cadenza for.”
Hyundai is also considering selling right-hand-drive versions of the upmarket Hyundai Genesis saloon – a model that would share underpinnings with the new Cadenza. The Hyundai Genesis will be revealed at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show in January, and will appear in showrooms in left-hand drive countries early next year.
The current Cadenza is 4970mm long and 1850mm wide - that's about as big as a BMW 5 Series, but expect the Cadenza to be priced around the same as the smaller 3-Series.
The Kia Cadenza was styled by Peter Schreyer with the now traditional ‘tiger nose’ grille and silhouette that echoes the smaller Kia Optima and bigger Kia Quoris (also known as the K9).
Although the Cadenza is not sold with a diesel engine in any other market, if it were to come to Europe it could get Kia’s 2.2-litre diesel or a version of the petrol/electric hybrid powertrain that’s in the Optima. A 3.3-litre V6 engine with 289bhp is available in the US models, but don't expect that to be available in European or UK models.
The Kia Cadenza is also badged as K7 in some markets, so it's possible that it could herald a European push for K-badged Kias.
