Kia coupe concept

By Chris Thorp

31st July 2007

Take a look at this cut-price Audi R8. You can only see a basic ‘teaser’ outline at the moment, but this striking silhouette is the first official glimpse of Kia’s ground- breaking new supercar-chasing coupé.

Set to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, the two-door bears more than a passing resemblance to the high-performance German flagship. And that’s hardly surprising – the newcomer has been penned by ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer.

Created at Kia’s Frankfurt studio, it is the next step in the Korean firm’s plan to become a major player in the European car market. While the shape is expected to develop into a mainstream production model, the new face revealed here will also feature across the entire range in the future. And with bosses certain that the concept will cause a big stir, a showroom-ready version could be as little as two years away.

The low-cost R8 lookalike will most likely be front-wheel drive, to keep costs down and allow engineers to use existing platform technology. However, a rear-drive set-up hasn’t officially been ruled out. Either way, it will feature a new 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, currently being developed with Hyundai.

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