New Kia Magentis, new name
* New name for family car * Number of options available * Clean break from past Kias...
Kia's new family car won't be called the Magentis when it arrives in the UK early in 2011.
The car is likely to adopt the Optima name used in the US, although K5, as it's known in Korea, is also a possibility. Less likely is an entirely different name altogether.
Sources say a new name would create a clean break for the Magentis replacement which, like the Sportage crossover, has a very different flavour to Kias of the past thanks to the work of top European designers drafted into the company.
The exterior was designed in Frankfurt, not Korea, while the interior was drawn up in California.
We'll be meeting the man in charge of Kia design, Peter Schreyer, at the New York Motor Show later today, so come back then to find out what he has to say about Kia's new direction and the Magentis replacement.
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