Stunning Kia K4 has the Skoda Octavia in its sights as UK arrival confirmed
Pitched between the VW Golf and Passat classes, the new Kia K4 is aimed at those not yet ready for electric power
The Kia K4 has been on sale in the US since 2024 – and now it’s coming to the UK. Pitched between the C and D segments (think Skoda Octavia, sized between the Volkswagen Golf and Passat), the K4 will prioritise space and comfort when it arrives here towards the end of this year.
You certainly won’t miss the K4 in showrooms – or on the road. The basic shape isn’t unusual (even if a new conventional family car is, given the market’s trend towards SUVs), but like other recent models from the brand, the K4 is packed with bold styling details, similar enough to its stablemates to look like a Kia, but different enough not to blend in with other traffic.
That should especially be the case for anyone choosing the new Sparkling Yellow paintwork, which is exclusive to the K4, while stepping up the range to GT-Line trim gets 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels, wheelarch mouldings and extended side sills, ticking several ‘sporty’ boxes. Inside, the GT-Line also gets a three-spoke steering wheel with paddle-shifters, although because Kia is yet to confirm full UK pricing and specification, we don’t yet know how each trim line compares beyond these drip-fed details.
We do know the K4 stretches 4,440mm long by 1,850mm wide, so it’s actually a full 249mm shorter than an Octavia, but longer than a 4,284mm Golf, and identical in width to the latter. Within this footprint Kia claims class-leading rear legroom of 964mm, and 973mm of headroom. The boot capacity, meanwhile, is 438 litres, eclipsing the 381-litre Golf but looking a bit poky next to the 600-litre Octavia.
Prices for the new Kia K4 are yet to be confirmed in the UK, but you can still get your hands on the Ceed before it goes off sale. You can buy a new Kia Ceed for just over £21,000 through our Buy A Car service.
What engines will the new Kia K4 have?
What you might have noticed, based on the name K4 rather than EV4, is that this new Kia will be powered by a handful of combustion engines rather than a pure-electric powertrain. Kicking off the range is a positively old-school 1.0-litre turbocharged triple paired with a six-speed manual gearbox (which should help keep entry-level pricing reasonable), while a mild-hybrid version with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is also available.
Above this is a 1.6 T-GDI petrol in either 148bhp or 178bhp form, both with the seven-speed auto as standard, while a full hybrid will join the range later. Like the pricing, performance and economy figures will be confirmed closer to launch.
As for tech and safety, the K4 will feature a wide driver information and infotainment display like most of the Kia (and Hyundai) range, here stretching nearly 30 inches thanks to a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, 5.3-inch climate display, and 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on all K4s, a wireless phone charger is standard on higher trims, and Harman Kardon audio and heated and ventilated artificial leather front seats also feature, but with the caveat that Kia is again yet to confirm whether all models will get the fancier bits. Digital Key functionality will let you use your smartphone as a key, and if you like chatting with your dashboard, you can summon AI help with the command “Hey Kia”.
The usual suite of driver-assistance functions is available across the range, from blind-spot monitoring and collision avoidance (to stop a driver changing lanes into the path of another car), while features such as Highway Driving Assist 2.0 and Smart Cruise Control 2 are also included for motorway use, the latter with the ability to bring the car safely to a halt if the driver becomes unresponsive.
“The K4 reflects our mission to make exciting mobility accessible to all by supporting customers who are not yet ready for fully electric vehicles,” explained Sjoerd Knipping, Chief Operating Officer of Kia Europe. At the right price, it should make things a little more difficult for the similarly class-spanning Skoda Octavia. Expect more pricing and specification details soon.
The Kia Ceed is dead: Long live the Kia K4
The new Kia K4 will also serve as the replacement for the Kia Ceed - formerly the C’eed - that was axed last month. The humble hatchback was part of the brand’s line-up for nearly 20 years, given that the first model arrived back in 2006, which made us curious why the household name hadn’t been passed down to its successor.
In an exclusive interview with Auto Express, Kia’s marketing director for Europe, David Hilbert, explained why it was sticking with the K4 name: “It’s the global naming convention and this is a global vehicle. It will not be sourced from Zelena, Slovakia [where the Ceed was built]. It’s coming from Mexico, hence why it’s going to be called a K4.”
He added that the K4 isn’t a like-for-like replacement for the Ceed, because of the way the new model blurs the lines between the C and D-segments.
However, this doesn’t mean that other models in Kia’s line-up will be adopting the K-based naming strategy used in other markets, such as the US. At least not for the time being, according to Hilbert.
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